ICYMI: Davids says “Politics should not be determining any kind of reproductive health care decisions”

Today, on the 51-year anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Kansas Reflector reported on Representative Sharice Davids’ work to protect reproductive rights and keep politicians out of personal health care decisions. Despite Kansans’ strong support of reproductive freedoms, extremists at the Kansas state level have recently doubled down on their quest to restrict reproductive health care access in 2024.

Davids has been a champion for increased access to reproductive and sexual health care. Last week, she offered the official motion to prevent a vote on a restrictive reproductive health care bill and voted twice to protect the right to choose. She has also introduced legislation to increase access to birth control and other reproductive health care services and joined 240 Members of Congress to file an amicus brief to keep mifepristone, a safe and effective medication used by millions of women, on the market.

The Kansas Reflector reported on Davids’ work to protect reproductive rights in Kansas:

“U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas … wants no one to forget Monday’s anniversary of the landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 22, 1973, establishing national constitutional protections for abortion.

“‘I’ve always been very clear that I’m pro-choice,’ Davids said in a podcast interview with Kansas Reflector. ‘Politicians and politics should not be determining any kind of reproductive health care decisions for a woman. That should be between her and her doctor and her family.’

[…]

“On June 24, 2022, … a more conservative Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in a 5-4 vote that declared the previously decision ‘egregiously wrong.’ The reversal meant states could set their own boundaries on abortion, and 14 have banned it and seven others bolstered restrictions.

[…]

“In Washington, D.C., Davids voted against two abortion bills on Jan. 18 that passed the U.S. House by narrow margins. The first was a measure requiring colleges and universities to provide information to female students about their unfettered right to carry a pregnancy to term. That legislation … didn’t mandate information on reproductive health care and contraception to be shared.

[…]

“The second bill adopted by the U.S. House involved pregnancy resource centers, which were created to strengthen opposition to abortion but didn’t provide reproductive health services to women.

[…]

“‘These facilities are purposely deceiving folks who are seeking reproductive health care,’ Davids said. ‘In many instances, we have seen that that they are not sharing information about the full range of reproductive health care services that are available. Not only are they not available at those centers, but they also are not even sharing that they could get access to health care, reproductive health care, including abortions in other facilities.’

[…]

“In terms of the U.S. Supreme Court, Davids said she was disappointed that Justice Clarence Thomas expressed interest in considering whether contraception was unconstitutional. ‘I’m very concerned to have a Supreme Court justice calling into question people’s right to access contraception,’ Davids said.

[…]

“‘You saw people from all over the state from both parties. It was a broad coalition of people that spoke pretty clearly about these extreme attempts to restrict reproductive health care,’ she said. ‘The most effective thing I can do is be clear about my wanting to protect those rights.’”