Donald Trump And JD Vance Are Pushing an Extreme Anti-Choice Agenda – and Latinas Will Bear the Brunt

After officially becoming Donald Trump’s main apologist, JD Vance continues to push his anti-choice extremism, in response DNC Spokesperson Kenia Guerrero released the following statement: 

“Donald Trump and JD Vance have launched an all-out assault on women’s reproductive freedom, and the stakes for Latinos couldn’t be higher. Latinos are already suffering under Trump’s extreme abortion bans across the country, which are hurting women, causing them to be turned away from emergency rooms and forced to wait until they are on the brink of death to receive the care they need. Trump’s decision to choose an anti-choice extremist like Vance as his running mate sends a clear signal: Trump and Vance will enact their dangerous Project 2025 agenda to ban abortion nationwide with or without Congress, threaten access to IVF and contraception, and strip away our fundamental rights. Trump and Vance are deeply out of touch with Latinos and America as a whole — and we will make our power clear at the ballot box in November when we reject them both.” 

Latinas strongly support full bodily autonomy and access to abortion care. Trump and Vance’s assault on reproductive freedom is a major electoral liability for them with Latino voters, who care deeply about access to abortion and list it as one of their top priorities across the country.

Intersections of Our Lives: “Access to birth control is the highest priority when it comes to reproductive health, with 78% of Latina/x women saying it is extremely or very important. 74% identified both maternal mortality for women of color and abortion legality, affordability, and access as extremely or very important. A strong majority (73%) of Latina/x women overall support abortion rights. While there is some variation in views on abortion across ethnicities, the majority supports abortion rights overall.”

NBC News: “Latinos consistently say the economy and abortion are top issues

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.”

CNN: “JD Vance said in 2022 he ‘would like abortion to be illegal nationally’”

“During a podcast interview in January 2022, then-candidate JD Vance said he ‘certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally’ and was ‘sympathetic’ to the view that a national ban was necessary to stop women from traveling across states to obtain an abortion.”

Manu Raju, CNN: “J.D. Vance, the Ohio GOP senator, says Republicans need to shift their approach on abortion and begin to embrace federal legislation … ‘We can’t give into the idea that the federal Congress has no role in this matter,’ he told us.”

Washington Post: “Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance argues against need for rape and incest exceptions in abortion laws”

Daily Beast: “J.D. Vance suggested he would support prohibiting abortion even in cases of rape and incest—and dismissed those catalysts as ‘inconvenient.’”

Vance’s anti-choice record also includes criticizing exceptions for rape and incest, comparing abortion to slavery, and voting to block legislation to codify protections for abortion access.

Newsweek: “J.D. Vance Backs ‘National Standard’ for Abortions”

Washington Post: “Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance argues against need for rape and incest exceptions in abortion laws”

Daily Beast: “J.D. Vance suggested he would support prohibiting abortion even in cases of rape and incest—and dismissed those catalysts as ‘inconvenient.’”

Vance: “Ohio has a heartbeat bill [banning abortion before many women know they’re pregnant], I think that’s a good bill.”

Vice: “JD Vance Compared Abortion to Slavery”

The Hill: “Vance has a strong anti-abortion record and was given an A+ ranking by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a prominent anti-abortion group.” 

ProPublica: “He argued that conservatives needed to take action against corporations that, say, defended abortion rights or punished employees who spoke out against abortion access. ‘If we’re unwilling to make companies that are taking the side of the left in the culture wars feel real economic pain, then we’re not serious about winning the culture war,’ he said.”

NBC News: “Senate Republicans block Democratic bill codifying Roe v. Wade abortion protections”

“Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked legislation led by Democrats to revive the protections of Roe v. Wade in the wake of the Supreme Court eliminating the nationwide right to abortion.”

Republicans who voted against include: JD Vance.

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 State 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.

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“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.”