Abortion Under Attack
estelle jelinek
Abortion Providers, the US Supreme Court has let stand a
South Carolina law that places medically unnecessary
requirements on abortion providers in an effort to drive
them out of business or make abortions prohibitively
expensive for many patients. South Carolina's regulations,
like TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) laws
in 36 other states, single out abortion providers for costly
requirements not imposed upon similar health care providers
who do not perform abortions.
South Carolina's rules include requirements for doorway
widths, hourly air exchange rates, and other medically
unjustifiable regulations. They compel unnecessary testing
of patients and clinic personnel and jeopardize patient
confidentiality. If providers are able to comply with the
new requirements, patients will see the cost of an abortion
increase by as much as $368.
TRAP legislation is currently pending in Colorado, Georgia,
Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee,
Texas and Virginia. These proposals threaten the
availability of safe and affordable reproductive health
services. If you live in these states, we'll keep you
informed about developments and alert you to critical times
when you should contact your representatives.
Abortion providers are under attack in legislatures around
the country. Help change the climate from one where
abortion providers are vilified to one where they are
honored. Send a note of encouragement to clinics and
abortion providers in your area on Saturday, March 10,
National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers, and
encourage your state legislators to support women's access
to abortion by not placing unnecessary restrictions on
providers. To find contact information for your state
legislators, go to
http://www.naral.org/actnow/directory.html and enter your
9-digit zip code.
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Public awareness of the harm caused by TRAP
regulations is the key their defeat. But to repeal these
dangerous laws, we must educated hundreds of thousands of
pro-choice activists in states where new or additional TRAP
legislation is currently moving through the legislature. We
cannot launch an effective educational campaign without the
support of pro-choice Americans like you.
Please take a moment and follow the link below to make a
contribution to help NARAL raise public awareness about this
dangerous legislation. Thank you for your support.
http://www.naral.org/forms/join_alert1b.html
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For more information about national NARAL or your state
affiliate, log on to http://www.naral.org or call
1-877-YOU-DECIDE. Visit http://www.fight4choice.org to
learn what else you can do to fight for the right to choose!
Please forward this message to pro-choice friends and family
members. Members of the Choice Action Network (CAN) receive
up-to-date information on issues relating to reproductive
health, family planning, abortion, sexuality education and
much more. If this message was forwarded to you, join the
Choice Action Network by sending an e-mail with your name
and address to c...@naral.org with the text "subscribe CAN."
E-mail c...@naral.org to let us know what you've done to
protect choice. Thank you.