Donald Trump’s Abortion Bans are Ripping Away Essential Reproductive Health Care from Latinas Across the Nation
June 24, 2024
On the second anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade by Trump’s handpicked justices, DNC Spokesperson Kenia Guerrero released the following statement:
“Today marks two years since Donald Trump’s handpicked Supreme Court justices overturned Roe v. Wade, unleashing an all-out assault on women’s reproductive freedoms that has now spread across the country and is disproportionately impacting communities of color. As MAGA Republicans follow Trump’s lead and escalate their anti-choice attacks, Latinas are disproportionately impactedt and living in the dystopian nightmare that Donald Trump has created for us. Come November, Latinas will remember that a second Trump presidency would mean more freedoms ripped away from us. Latinas won’t forget that it is because of Trump that women are being turned away from emergency rooms and denied life-saving reproductive health care, and they’ll vote for the only candidate in this race who will fight to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade as the law of the land and protect our fundamental and reproductive freedoms – President Biden.”
Three-quarters of the Latinas who are now living under Trump’s extreme abortion bans are concentrated in Texas, Florida, and Arizona.
NBC News: “Latinas Remain The Largest Group Of Women Of Color In The Nation Impacted By Current Or Likely Abortion Bans.
“Close to 6.7 million Latinas (43% of all Latinas ages 15-49) live in 26 states that have banned or are likely to ban abortions.
[…]
“Three-quarters of the Latinas who live in states with abortion bans or restrictions are concentrated in Texas, Florida, and Arizona, according to the report. They make up almost one-third of all Latinas of reproductive age in the nation. Texas, where abortions are banned, is home to 2.9 million Latinas of reproductive age. Florida and Arizona, where abortions are restricted, are home to 1.4 million and 585,600 Latinas of reproductive age, respectively.”
National Partnership for Women & Families: “Latinas of all racial groups are impacted by the Dobbs ruling, including:
108,900 Black Latinas
75,300 Native Latinas
20,500 Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Latinas
1.3 million Latinas who identify as another race; and
1.5 million multiracial Latinas.
In Arizona: “Arizona is home to 585,600 Latinas of reproductive age – 4 percent of all Latinas of reproductive age in the country and 9 percent of Latinas who live in these 26 states [with current or likely abortion bans].”
19th News: “A study from UCLA published in late 2022 found that the share of Latinas who are of childbearing age tends to be significantly higher than that of White women in states that restrict abortion. In Florida, 49 percent of Latinas are between the ages of 18 and 44, compared with 31 percent of White women. In Arizona, the share is 60 percent and 34 percent, respectively.”
In Florida: “Florida is home to 1.4 million Latinas of reproductive age – 9 percent of all Latinas of reproductive age in the country and 21 percent of Latinas who live in these 26 states [with current or likely abortion bans].”
NBC News: “Women across Florida are encountering the new ban, but abortion rights advocates say immigrants in the state and in this county — which has the nation’s highest share of foreign-born residents according to census data — will feel the impact more acutely. They may face language barriers, for instance, or have jobs without paid time off. And for those who lack legal documentation, the hurdles are magnified.”
In Texas: “Hispanic women aged 25 to 44 were most affected. 13,503 of the state’s additional 16,147 births in 2022 (over 2021) were to Hispanic women. The state’s controversial 2021 abortion ban forbid virtually all pregnancy terminations after six-weeks of pregnancy – which is often before a woman knows she is pregnant.”
Latinas already often face additional barriers in accessing health and reproductive care services due to economic insecurity and challenges in accessing culturally competent care.
NBC News: “More than 3 million Latinas in states where abortion is becoming increasing inaccessible were “economically insecure” or living in families below 200% of the federal poverty line, according to the report.”
National Partnership for Women & Families: “More than 3 million Latinas living in these states are economically insecure. Women with low incomes are especially impacted by state bans as they are more likely to lack access to the necessary funds to travel to another state for abortion care. Furthermore, women who are denied abortion care are significantly more likely to be pushed deeper into poverty as a result.
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“More than 1 million Latinas who live in states that have or are likely to ban abortions report not speaking English at all or not speaking it well. This language barrier creates substantial challenges to accessing and receiving culturally competent abortion care.”
Trump’s assault on reproductive freedom is a major electoral liability for him with Latino voters, who care deeply about access to abortion and list it as one of their top priorities across the country.
NBC News: “Latinos consistently say the economy and abortion are top issues”
The Guardian: “Biden performs better on abortion issues (30% Biden, 21% Trump).”
NBC News: “Abortion, gun control were top issues driving young Latinos to vote”
Washington Post: “Politicians assumed most Latinos were anti-abortion. They were wrong.”
In Nevada: “81 percent of Nevada Latino voters think abortion should be legal, personal beliefs aside”
In Arizona: “A whopping 80% of Arizona Latinos support keeping abortion legal, regardless of their personal beliefs”
In Florida: “70% of Florida Hispanics oppose making abortion illegal”
In Georgia: “Abortion ranks as top issue among Georgia Latinos, poll finds”
In Pennsylvania: “Abortion has become more salient, and 73% of Latino voters in Pennsylvania believe it should remain legal, no matter what their own personal beliefs on the issue.”
Meanwhile, Trump refused to rule out signing a dangerous national abortion ban after previously expressing support and said he supports allowing states to prosecute women who get an abortion.
Time: “So just to be clear, then: You won’t commit to vetoing the bill if there’s federal restrictions—federal abortion restrictions?”
Trump: “I won’t have to commit to it.”
Time: “Would you veto [the Life at Conception Act]?”
Trump: “I don’t have to do anything about vetoes, because we now have it back in the states.”
Time: “Are you comfortable if states decide to punish women who access abortions after the procedure is banned?”
[…]
Trump: “Again, that’s going to be—I don’t have to be comfortable or uncomfortable. The states are going to make that decision. The states are going to have to be comfortable or uncomfortable, not me.”
[…]
Time: “Prosecuting women for getting abortions after the ban. But are you comfortable with it?”
Trump: “The states are going to say. It’s irrelevant whether I’m comfortable or not. It’s totally irrelevant, because the states are going to make those decisions.”
Associated Press: “Trump says he will support national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy”
Rolling Stone: “Trump Wants to Ban Abortion Nationwide: Report”
Trump: “There of course remains a vital role for the federal government in protecting unborn life. And it’s very important.”
Trump on if he would support a six-week national abortion ban: “I’m looking at all options.”
Trump and his MAGA allies running Project 2025 are ready to push their extreme anti-choice agenda even further if he wins this November.
Rolling Stone: “Trump Claims Credit for All Abortion Bans”
Axios: “The Heritage Foundation, which has proposed detailed policies for a potential GOP administration, argues that Comstock ‘unambiguously prohibits mailing abortion drugs’ and says the next administration should ‘enforce federal law against providers and distributors of [abortion] pills.’”
Jake Tapper: “If Donald Trump does win and if the Republicans keep the majority, will you bring the national abortion ban up for a vote?”
Mike Johnson: “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
Jake Tapper: “You said you didn’t know what I meant by a national abortion ban — I meant the [Life at Conception Act], which you are a cosponsor of.”
Project 2025: “FDA should… Reverse its approval of chemical abortion drugs because the politicized approval process was illegal from the start. … Now that the Supreme Court has acknowledged that the Constitution contains no right to an abortion, the FDA is ethically and legally obliged to revisit and withdraw its initial approval, which was premised on pregnancy being an ‘illness’ and abortion being ‘therapeutically’ effective at treating this ‘illness.’ The FDA is statutorily charged with guaranteeing the safety and efficacy of drugs and therefore should withdraw this drug that is proven to be dangerous to women and by definition fatally unsafe for unborn children.”
NBC News: “But with the landmark Roe ruling protecting those rights gone, efforts by conservative lawmakers and judges to advance fetal personhood bills pose a real threat to some fertility treatments, including IVF, reproductive rights advocates say.”