Abortion Rights

Abortion rights are under attack. Political extremists and far-right activists are aiming to dismantle abortion rights across the country and deny equitable, safe access to abortion. People nationwide have felt the reverberating effects of political extremism through abortion bans and restrictive abortion laws. To ensure that every woman has the right to critical health care services, it is necessary to restore the fundamental right to abortion and advance new abortion laws that advance access to care.

The Center for American Progress Action Fund aims to develop policy and solutions to ensure that abortion access is protected by state and federal law and to preserve the fundamental rights and well-being of all Americans. U.S. health care should include abortion care. The United States must proactively address the consequences of abortion bans and build up a care infrastructure that is supportive of abortion rights through policy changes at the state and federal levels. This includes: eliminating the Hyde amendment to ensure that abortion is affordable for all people; reversing the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Care Organization decision; codifying the right to abortion into law; ensuring a fair-minded and balanced judiciary; and safeguarding access to medication abortion. The country also needs to simultaneously improve access to comprehensive health care overall, including birth control, maternity care, and all preventive services.

Photo shows a crowd of people holding signs that read
Activists hold abortion rights signs at a rally in Washington, D.C., April 2023. (Getty/Probal Rashid/LightRocket)

Latest

Compact View

The Racist War On Drugs Has Come For Abortion Care In the News

The Racist War On Drugs Has Come For Abortion Care

In an op-ed published in Talking Points Memo, Lindsey McLendon argues that criminalizing abortion medications ban will deepen Louisiana’s existing racial disparities in deadly ways.

Talking Points Memo

Lindsey McLendon

Arizona opinion: Shame on Schweikert: Why his support for Republicans’ budget proposal could spell disaster for Arizona Personal Story

Arizona opinion: Shame on Schweikert: Why his support for Republicans’ budget proposal could spell disaster for Arizona

Dr. Gabrielle Goodrick, the medical director of a family planning center, shares the potential threats to health care access that could result from a budget proposal put forward by a group of Republicans in Congress.

Arizona Daily Star

Dr. Gabrielle Goodrick

Dawn Porter on ‘Deadlocked’ and Today’s Activist Supreme Court Podcast

Dawn Porter on ‘Deadlocked’ and Today’s Activist Supreme Court

Filmmaker Dawn Porter joins Colin to discuss her forthcoming Showtime series, “Deadlocked”; how the U.S. Supreme Court was overtaken by an extremist far-right supermajority; and how this shift has led to catastrophic decisions such as overturning Roe v. Wade.

1 Year Without Roe Personal Story

1 Year Without Roe

This CAP story collection details the experiences of doctors, doulas, and nurse practitioners since the overturn of Roe v. Wade and their fears in the rapidly evolving legal landscape of abortion care.

the Center for American Progress

Opinion: Leave doctors and patients to make reproductive decisions In the News
cap-action-social-share

Opinion: Leave doctors and patients to make reproductive decisions

Virginia critical care nurse Cate Weiss writes about how abortion bans criminalize medical care and put medical professionals in legal limbo, which in turn jeopardizes patient care.

The Virginian-Pilot

Cate Weiss

Related Priorities

Tackling Climate Change and Environmental Injustice

Tackling Climate Change and Environmental Injustice

We pursue climate action that meets the crisis’s urgency, creates good-quality jobs, benefits disadvantaged communities, and restores U.S. credibility on the global stage.

Restoring Social Trust in Democracy

Restoring Social Trust in Democracy

Democracy is under attack at home and abroad. We must act to ensure it is accessible to all, accountable, and can serve as a force of good.

Strengthening Health

Strengthening Health

We work to strengthen public health systems and improve health care coverage, access, and affordability.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.