LWV and Reproductive Rights
In its publication "IMPACT ON ISSUES : A GUIDE TO PUBLIC POLICY POSITIONS of the LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS 2022 - 2024," the National League of Women Voters presents its Statement of Position on Public Policy on Reproductive Choices, as originally announced by the national board, January 1983:
The League of Women Voters of the United States believes that public policy in a pluralistic society must affirm the constitutional right of privacy of the individual to make reproductive choices.
As explained in "Impact on Issues," the League has stated since 1983 that every US resident should have access to affordable, quality health care, including birth control and the privacy to make reproductive choices. As an ally of reproductive rights organizations, we know that safe access to health care, including abortion, is essential to our democracy.
Democracy depends on equal rights for all people. Losing our right to reproductive choice opens the door to the loss of other freedoms like marriage equality, contraception, and the right to engage in private, consensual intimacy. The attack we have seen on voting rights is an attack on democracy. The attack on reproductive choice is a continuation of silencing people in this country.
Not only is the right to a safe and legal abortion a matter of personal freedom, it’s also a major factor in the movements for racial and economic equality. Black women and all under-served communities already experience inequitable barriers and limited access to adequate health care services. Many of the communities targeted with voter suppression are the same ones who will be most impacted if reproductive freedom is also taken away.
The League of Women Voters supports the rights of women and those who can become pregnant to self-determination related to, and including, but not limited to bodily autonomy, privacy, reproductive health, and lifestyle choice.
See the full text at Impact on Issues, page 57, "Public Policy on Reproductive Choices." This document contains all the Nationally agreed Principles and Positions of the League of Women Voters.
See also: relevant press releases:
For further information on the recent LWVUS involvement in reproductive rights:
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