Elizabeth Warren Unveils Plan to Protect Abortion Rights

“This is a dark moment…But this isn’t a moment to back down.”

Preston Ehrler/ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

After Alabama passed the most extreme abortion ban in the country this week, Democratic presidential hopefuls have vowed to challenge the law, along with other draconian measures around the country that aim to roll back reproductive rights.

On Friday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) presented a strategy to do that. The plan comes one day after Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand revealed her own proposal to protect abortion rights.

“This is a dark moment,” Warren wrote in a Medium post. “People are scared and angry. And they are right to be. But this isn’t a moment to back down — it’s time to fight back.”

Warren signaled that if elected president, she would seek to undo the Trump administration’s reshaping of the federal judiciary by nominating judges who demonstrate respect for established precedents such as Roe v. Wade. She urged Congress to enact laws to make it more difficult for states to pass legislation that limits reproductive health care, pointing to the Women’s Health Protection Act, first introduced in Congress in 2013, as an example of the kinds of protections that could be offered on the federal level.

The 2020 presidential contender also called to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds for abortions, and end the Trump administration’s so-called gag rule, which prevents health organizations that provide abortions from receiving Title X federal family planning funds. 

“Our democracy should not be held hostage by right-wing courts, and women should not have to hope that Brett Kavanaugh and Donald Trump’s Supreme Court will respect the law,” she wrote. “Congress should act to ensure that the will of the people remains the law of the land.”

While most of Warren’s plan is unlikely to be drastically different from what her Democratic rivals will offer, it does come as the senator continues to distinguish herself in the increasingly crowded field of Democratic candidates by releasing comprehensive plans in support of various progressive platforms. 

This post has been updated to include Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand’s plan to protect abortion rights.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate