As you will have heard by now, the US is currently in the grip of an unparalleled onslaught of abortion restrictions. From the rise of “fetal heartbeat” bills in states such as Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri, to the near-blanket ban on abortion in Alabama, the deliberate erosion of  reproductive rights at the hands of the Trump administration is putting women’s lives in danger. 

While abortion bans have been dominating headlines, however, there are a number of organisations actively working to challenge the pervasive narrative attacking a woman’s right to choose, and protect the vital healthcare services that are still legal in all 50 states in America.

It comes not a moment too soon, then, that Planned Parenthood has unveiled a major new campaign dedicated to fighting the abortion bans from the frontlines.

The non-profit organisation, which works to secure affordable and safe reproductive healthcare for women in the United States and across the world, has just launched Bans Off My Body, a huge grassroots campaign which looks to “fight back against attacks on reproductive health care and boldly declare that our bodies, our lives, and our futures are our own.”

Planned Parenthood is taking the assault on women’s reproductive healthcare pretty seriously indeed, because they unveiled the campaign with a a huge billboard in Times Square and a six-figure digital ad buy.

As Planned Parenthood point out on their campaign page, the current political climate is vital  “to show that we won’t tolerate this assault on our health and rights”. At present, 1 in 3 women of reproductive age live in a state where abortion could be outlawed if the landmark 1973 ruling Roe v Wade legalising abortion is overturned, which equates to a staggering 25 million people. Meanwhile, six states in the United States only have one abortion-care provider.

“Every person deserves the right to control their body, their life, and their future,” Leana Wen, MD, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. “We cannot live freely and move fully in the world when our basic right to access the reproductive healthcare we need, including safe, legal abortion, is under attack. 

“Our bodies are our own — if they are not, we cannot be truly free or equal. We will show everyone the strength of our fierce and unrelenting opposition to these bans and any attempt to take away our fundamental right to make decisions about our bodies. Now is the time to unite, stand up, and make sure we all have the opportunity to live full and healthy lives.”

With over 77% of Americans committed to preserving Roe v. Wade, and statistics showing that nearly one in four women in the United States will have an abortion by the age of 45, Bans Off My Body is sending a strong counter-narrative to anti-choice politicians making it their priority to attack abortion access. Abortion is a common, safe and legal procedure, and women’s right to reproductive care is not up for debate.  

Image; Getty