STATEMENT FROM URGE ON THE 2022 MIDTERM ELECTIONS
As ballots get counted across the country, and with abortion rights hanging in the balance in several key states, a clear message has already emerged: young people – particularly young Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color – are exercising their power to radically transform our political landscape. In response, Kimberly Inez McGuire, Executive Director of URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, has released the following statement: “Today, folks across this nation exercised their right to vote. Some were blocked or turned away. Some had a harder time than they should have, because voter suppression remains rampant. But so many persisted, and their voices rang loud and clear at the ballot box. “As we await the results, one thing is clear: young people, young voters will decide the… Read more »
URGE Condemns Court Ruling on DACA
(Washington, D.C.) On Wednesday, October 5, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in the case Texas v. United States, which challenges the legality of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The Court held that DACA is unconstitutional and sent the case back to the District Court for further consideration. This decision continues to dismantle DACA completely, threatening the livelihoods of a generation of DREAMers who call the United States their home. URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity strongly condemns this decision and supports the rights of all people to live and migrate freely, without fear of deportation, family separation, or criminalization. We recognize that these attempts to end DACA disproportionately affect the community that URGE centers in our work with young people, particularly… Read more »
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR KIMBERLY INEZ MCGUIRE MEETS WITH VP HARRIS, CIVIL RIGHTS, REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH & JUSTICE LEADERS AT WHITE HOUSE
(WASHINGTON, DC) – On Monday, September 12, 2022, URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity Executive Director Kimberly Inez McGuire (she/her/ella) joined a group of civil rights, reproductive health, and reproductive justice organization leaders in a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House. These were her remarks: “I want to start by offering my deepest thanks to the distinguished leaders here today from civil rights, reproductive health and justice, and of course, Madam Vice President for your incredible leadership. You have been an inspiration to so many, including my own family. “This is a momentous discussion, as an organization that is dedicated to getting to decide when, if, and how we build our families. As my comrades have acknowledged, we who fight for justice have… Read more »
URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity Applauds Defeat of Anti-Abortion Constitutional Amendment
(Wichita, KS) – On Tuesday, Kansas voters decisively rejected an amendment to the state constitution that would have stripped away abortion protections and allowed state lawmakers to eliminate access to critical reproductive healthcare. URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, a national youth-led Reproductive Justice organization with a vital community activist network, has been organizing youth in Kansas in the fight to protect abortion access in the state. As an executive committee member of Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, URGE co-led the fight against the ballot measure, helping build a broad and diverse coalition of organizations and stakeholders to drive voter turnout and mobilize young people. “Today, Kansans bluntly rejected anti-abortion politicians’ attempts at creating a reproductive police state in Kansas,” Kimberly Inez McGuire, Executive Director at URGE said. “We are… Read more »
U.S. HOUSE PASSES WOMEN’S HEALTH PROTECTION ACT AND THE ENSURING ACCESS TO ABORTION ACT OF 2022 IN RESPONSE TO SCOTUS OVERTURNING ROE
Today, the United States House of Representatives passed the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) and the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act by votes of 219-210 and 223-205, respectively. URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity applauds the Representatives who voted to support these bills and protect abortion access. This is the second time in the past year that Members of the House have legislated to proactively support abortion rights, passing WHPA previously last September. WHPA prohibits governmental restrictions on the provision of, and access to, abortion services, while the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act protects our right to travel, prohibiting anyone acting under state law from interfering with a person’s ability to access out-of-state abortion services. These bills passed today despite opposition from extremist legislators who are out-of-touch with the… Read more »
YOUNG PEOPLE DEMAND MORE FROM BIDEN ON ABORTION ACCESS
Today, President Biden signed an executive order to protect and expand reproductive health care services, including efforts to safeguard access to medication abortion, and emergency contraception. In a speech with Vice President Harris, President Biden laid out the administration’s plans to increase public outreach, provide legal support, and launch a task force to coordinate other potential policies to protect access. “Every day, clinics across the South and Midwest are closing, people are scrambling for care as appointments are canceled, and right now someone is sitting in an ER with a nonviable ectopic pregnancy wondering how close to death they’ll have to be to get the care they need. This is a crisis that requires swift, courageous, and comprehensive action. According to new polling, young people overwhelmingly support abortion access and… Read more »
New Poll: Young People Very Concerned about Supreme Court Decision to Strike Down Abortion Protections
(Washington, DC) – Today, URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity released new polling data showing that young people overwhelmingly support the right to abortion, are very concerned about the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade, and want abortion access to be expanded and protected. URGE, a Reproductive Justice organization led by Millennial and Gen Z advocates and organizers of color, partnered with leading millennial- and BIPoC- owned polling firm HIT Strategies to field a national survey of young people (18-34 years old) to evaluate knowledge, opinion, and engagement with current policy issues, abortion access, and the Supreme Court case on abortion rights. The poll was conducted in May 2022, after the draft decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health leaked showing the Supreme Court’s plan to overturn Roe… Read more »
Supreme Court Dismantles Roe v. Wade Abortion Protections; Young People Among Most Impacted, Will Rise Up
On Friday, June 24, 2022 Justice Samuel Alito issued a 5-4 ruling declaring Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban constitutional, overturning Roe v. Wade in the process. Today’s decision did not merely uphold Mississippi’s law–which would have been devastating enough; it did away with the constitutional right to abortion altogether. Simply put, this ruling is a devastating blow to abortion access in the country. It will be particularly harmful to young people, communities of color, and people with low income, many of whom – especially those in the South and Midwest – were already living with barriers to access that resemble a post-Roe future. Currently, 26 states are set to partially or completely ban abortion, ranging from 15-weeks to six weeks, or as Oklahoma just demonstrated, from the moment of fertilization. Following… Read more »
URGE – MEMBER OF THE CALIFORNIA FUTURE OF ABORTION (CA FAB) COUNCIL – SUPPORTS NEWLY INTRODUCED CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO SPELL OUT ABORTION & CONTRACEPTION AS FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
As the nation braces for the Supreme Court’s ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (with the anticipation that the 15-week Mississippi abortion ban will be upheld and the Court’s 49-year-old precedent set by Roe v. Wade will be overturned), state legislators in California have introduced SCA 10 to explicitly name abortion and contraception access as fundamental rights for Californians. This legislative maneuver underscores previous efforts to position the state as an abortion sanctuary, which have been backed by Governor Newsom. While URGE recognizes that California’s progressive strides in no way eliminate the harm caused by rampant anti-abortion legislation in states across the South and Midwest, we applaud California legislators for their work to uphold bodily autonomy. “SCA 10 would take a step further California’s commitment to being a… Read more »
UPDATED STATEMENT ON ALABAMA’S ANTI-TRANS HEALTHCARE LAWS
Today, URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity celebrates the outcome of the Alabama case, Rev. Eknes-Tucker v. Marshall, as a step to protect transgender and non-binary young people in exercising their bodily autonomy in health care decisions. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, Northern Division, held that a portion of the anti-trans healthcare law that passed in Alabama last month cannot stand. The sections that would criminalize doctors for providing gender-affirming healthcare to trans and non-binary youth in Alabama have been enjoined by the courts and are not currently being legally enforced. Harmful sections of the law remain in effect, including provisions that require teachers and school personnel to notify legal guardians of a child’s gender dysphoria or face criminal charges. Other laws targeting trans… Read more »
