“Are we living in ‘A Handmaid’s Tale,’ or America?,” Florida Democratic Party chairperson Nikki Fried asked rhetorically on a press call Tuesday.
With Florida’s six-week abortion ban taking effect Wednesday, Democratic leaders from several Southern states held a virtual press conference to discuss the regional effect. They asserted that electing Democrats in state and federal office this year could be a factor in restoring protections or easing restrictions.
Other Democratic chairs, including Virginia’s Susan Swecker, and U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Ga., joined Fried to discuss Florida’s new law.
Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel-turned-TV-show depicts a patriarchal society where women have no rights. Some reproductive-rights advocates say the fictional setting feels closer to reality in the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections.
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With Virginia as the least restrictive Southern state, providers say they have seen an uptick in out-of-state patients seeking the procedure. North Carolina has a 12-week limit — a time when many fetal anomalies are not yet detected — while other Southern states have six-week limits or near-total bans.
“Women will be turned away from hospital rooms and forced to drive a day or more for treatment, if they can make it that far,” Fried said.
She and others on the call said former President Donald Trump — who nominated three conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court — is to blame for the current landscape of reproductive health care access.
Comstock Act a Trump question mark
In a recent interview with Time Magazine, Trump reinforced his view that abortion access should be states’ purview. However, he indicated he would have an announcement soon regarding abortion pills and enforcement of the Comstock Act.
The dormant 19th century law — which has not been enforced in over 50 years — would prohibit the mailing of abortion medication and paraphernalia. If enforced, it could make it illegal to obtain abortion pills through the mail or to mail equipment needed to establish an abortion facility. The act has been cited by local governments around the country, including Virginia’s Grayson County, which last December defeated a proposed ordinance based on the law.
Comstock is referenced in a Heritage Foundation playbook that Trump could follow if elected president again.
“I have a big statement on that,” Trump told Time when asked if he would order the Department of Justice to enforce the dormant law. “I feel very strongly about it. I actually think it’s a very important issue.”
When asked if she and her colleagues have discussed undoing the Comstock Act, Williams, the Georgia congresswoman, said it would be important for Democrats to win on ballots nationwide — from the presidency to governors to congress.
She indicated that could open up better chances at success in protecting abortion access and other reproductive health care.
“Right now, we don’t have the majority in Congress to pass legislation to protect women’s reproductive freedoms,” she said. “Right now, we don’t even have Republicans who are willing to stand up for IVF and contraception in this country.”
An election issue
Legislation like the Reproductive Freedom For All Act and the Access To Family Building Act has not gained traction in Congress. In February, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., attempted to fast track the Access to Family Building Act, but Sen. Cyndi Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., blocked the measure.
Swecker, the Virginia Democratic chair, said Tuesday that abortion has been a winning issue for Democrats in elections — noting that Virginia Democrats flipped the House of Delegates and held a Senate majority last November after Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Republicans embraced a 15-week limit, with exceptions. She said the issue crosses party lines, noting that Republican-leaning states like Kansas and swing states like Ohio have backed abortion protections.
She said she is “proud of our status as a bastion for reproductive rights” and that this year’s congressional elections will “decide if we turn back the clock.”
Williams, the Georgia congresswoman, cited what she called the “unintended consequences” of overturning Roe and how reproductive health care like in vitro fertilization and access to contraceptives has come into question.
“If (Biden is re-elected and) given a Democratic Congress, we will restore the rights of Roe v. Wade once and for all,” she said.