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Kamala Harris, the Democratic senator from California and 2020 presidential hopeful, is announcing a major plan to protect abortion rights and access. The plan is a reproductive rights act modeled on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The act would require states that have a history of passing laws that violate the protections of the ruling in Roe v. Wade to get approval from the Department of Justice before enacting any new abortion restrictions. Nice.
Basically, this would allow the DOJ to block extreme abortion restrictions (such as the ones in Georgia or Alabama, for example) from going into effect. What makes Harris’s plan unique is the involvement of the DOJ. While many Democrats want to take measures to protect Roe, Harris wants to put the DOJ at the forefront.
Today, this would put states including Iowa, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina on Harris’s hypothetical list for needing DOJ approval.
“Extreme politicians in state legislatures have been working to systematically chip away at Roe for decades, enacting over 1,000 measures since 1995 designed to wipe out access to abortion,” a fact-sheet provided by Harris’s campaign states.
In comparison, we can look at plans by fellow Democratic Senators Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren, both of whom want to protect Roe via an Office of Reproductive Freedoms and executive orders, respectively. Same goal, different approach.
Also introduced earlier was the Women’s Health Protection Act. This bill, co-sponsored by many Democrats, including Harris, includes the same approval requirements as Harris’ plan for how the DOJ would evaluate various state laws.
Specifically, the bill would address state TRAP laws. These restrictions, the title of which is an acronym for Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers, seek to end abortion piecemeal by targeting providers with regulations on equipment, numbers of doctors, and building size; but they aren't truly helping people who need abortions. Instead, they’re basically setting unrealistic standards in an effort to limit how places can actually provide abortions. The bill would also circle back to Roe, with the fundamental standard that states can’t ban abortions before fetal viability.
"There is an attack on women's access to healthcare, there is no question," Harris said during a recent interview with
CNN. "I will always fight for a woman's right to make whatever decision she believes is in the best interest of her and her family and the government should not be in the business of taking those decisions away from women."
Given that Missouri’s one abortion clinic is set to shut down later this very week, Harris’ plan release feels especially important. Mind you, if she were elected president, Congress would still need to pass her plan. If nothing changes in 2020—meaning, if Republicans keep the majority in the Senate—that’s a potential roadblock in this moving forward. But it’s still hugely important.