State of the Union: Restoring Roe v. Wade is Not Enough

In response to President Biden’s State of the Union address, Regina Davis Moss, President and CEO of In Our Own Voice, released the following statement:

“Last night, President Biden reaffirmed his commitment to protecting our democracy and restoring Roe v. Wade protections for abortion access. We’re grateful that he drew attention to barriers to civic participation, abortion care access and the increased policing of pregnancy due to a patchwork of restrictions throughout the nation. It’s also important to keep amplifying the stories of the millions of people impacted by attacks on reproductive freedom. Brittany Watts, who faced criminalization for pregnancy loss in Ohio, and Latorya Beasley, whose in vitro fertilization treatments were halted when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos were considered people, were both in attendance last night – two living examples of the horrifying impact of restrictions on reproductive care.

Ensuring federal protections for abortion care and bodily autonomy through a Reproductive Justice framework is critical to full reproductive care access. It’s why we led on sending a letter to the Biden administration urging the administration to continue building on progress toward Reproductive Justice policy ahead of the State of the Union address. A nationwide right to abortion care is only the minimum to ensuring bodily autonomy. We are calling on the Biden administration to advocate for eliminating all barriers to reproductive health care, including abortion care, providing public funding to close gaps in access to care and preventing the criminalization of pregnancy.

Black women, girls and gender-expansive people deserve to make their own reproductive decisions, and abortion access is only one part of that. This year, In Our Own Voice is deeply committed to fighting for the representation we need in our government to ensure Reproductive Justice for all.”

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In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda is a national-state partnership focused on lifting up the voices of Black women leaders at the national and regional levels in our fight to secure Reproductive Justice for all women, femmes, and girls. Our eight strategic partners are Black Women for Wellness, Black Women’s Health Imperative, New Voices for Reproductive Justice, SisterLove, Inc. SisterReach, SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW, The Afiya Center and Women With A Vision.