Progressive Agenda
Reproductive Rights Policy
Our values: Freedom, liberty, privacy, personal responsibility
Our vision: Decisions about contraception and abortion should be made by the individuals involved, not by politicians or the government. To make these decisions responsibly, individuals need access to: (1) complete and medically accurate information; (2) birth control; (3) constitutionally protected abortion services; and (4) protection from discrimination based on a woman’s decision to take contraception, give birth, or have an abortion.
Provide medically accurate information
Americans deserve medically accurate information about reproductive health so they can make responsible decisions. But anti-abortion advocates rely on falsehoods. Abortion does not cause cancer. Emergency contraception does not cause an abortion. A person’s ability to conceive does not shut down as the result of rape. States and cities should guarantee that everyone receives medically accurate information at hospitals and health care centers, and prevent consumer fraud, misrepresentation and outright lies from “crisis pregnancy centers.” It’s also important to provide comprehensive sex education to students, since they may not have access to accurate information anywhere else.
Guarantee access to birth control
In recent years it has become clear that the anti-abortion agenda is as hostile to birth control as it is to abortion. But Americans overwhelmingly support access to birth control. States can and should guarantee emergency contraceptives to survivors of sexual assault, require pharmacies to stock emergency contraception, prohibit health care workers from refusing to issue or fill prescriptions for contraceptives, and provide greater access to long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), like IUDs and implants.
Guarantee access to abortion
The right to safe and legal abortion services is under attack in both courts and state legislatures. Now more than ever, states must codify the right to abortion, protect access to clinics that provide abortion services, eliminate restrictions that violate principles of informed consent, guarantee there are no double standards that hinder abortion clinics, allow all qualified providers to perform abortions or prescribe the abortion pill, mandate equity in abortion insurance coverage, and respect everyone’ decision regarding abortion.
Prohibit discrimination based on reproductive choices
Whether someone carries a pregnancy to term, miscarries, or has an abortion, they should not be subject to any type of harassment or discrimination. Some people have lost their jobs for taking contraception or having an abortion, a form of discrimination that was banned most recently by the state of Delaware. Others have been denied reasonable accommodations from their employers and forced to leave their jobs because of pregnancy or childbirth, something which has been prohibited in several states and localities through adoption of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
FEATURED POLICIES FOR 2024
Restore the right to abortion
Most Americans support the right to abortion under Roe v. Wade. Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe, state law controls the issue. Without access to safe, legal abortions, some people will die while others will be unjustly prosecuted. Several states have enacted laws to codify the right to abortion, and all others should do the same.
Increase the number of abortion providers
Both aspiration abortions and the abortion pill are extremely safe and simple. Aspiration abortion is one of the safest medical procedures in the nation while medication abortion is safer than Tylenol, aspirin or Viagra. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends allowing advanced practice clinicians (APCs)—nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives and physician assistants—to perform aspiration abortions and supervise medication abortions. States should permit both.
Encourage the use of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs)
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported that the state’s teen birth rate was nearly cut in half during the first five years of its Family Planning Initiative, which increases access to long-acting reversible contraceptives (IUDs and implants). Both the birth rate and abortion rate for women ages 15-19 fell 48 percent from 2009 through 2014. LARCs are 20 times more effective in preventing pregnancy than the pill, contraceptive patch, or vaginal ring, yet only 7.2 percent of women use LARCs. Every state and city should adopt policies to increase access to LARCs.
Stop the harassment of individuals who have lost a pregnancy
Across the nation, law enforcement authorities are investigating and prosecuting individuals who have lost a pregnancy. While state “fetal homicide” laws were generally enacted to prosecute someone who commits a crime against a pregnant person, they are now being used to punish some who have suffered a pregnancy loss, based on the idea that they might have intentionally or negligently caused it. The Pregnant Women’s Dignity Act ends such investigations and prosecutions.
Keep bosses out of the bedroom
Employees should be judged by their performance at work, without regard to their private healthcare choices. Yet, in recent years there have been a number of bosses retaliating against employees for having a child or an abortion, or even for using contraception. The Keep Bosses Out of the Bedroom Act would guarantee that employers cannot take an adverse action against an employee based on the employee’s reproductive health decisions.
Prevent anti-abortion violence and harassment
Clinics that offer reproductive health are continually subjected to violence, threats of violence and harassment. There have been 37 murders or attempted murders due to anti-abortion violence over the past four decades, as well as hundreds of bombings and arson attacks. Abortion providers, clinic workers and patients are, quite reasonably, afraid for their personal safety. That’s why states and localities should pass laws to protect abortion clinics.