We are facing an abortion access crisis.
Last year the United States Supreme Court overturned nearly 50 years of precedent by reversing Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion.
The impact of this decision has been devastating. Across the country, anti-abortion politicians have raced to restrict abortion access – from Texas’ 6-week abortion ban, to 15-week bans passing in Florida and Arizona. States have been emboldened to pass even harsher bans, exacerbating existing barriers that fall particularly hard on people of color, individuals with low incomes, and immigrants.
For people living in states without abortion access,, travel has dramatically increased when they are forced to seek abortion care outside their home state. In Texas, for instance, the distance increased by 3,017%, forcing people to travel up to 525 miles to get an abortion. In states where abortion remains legal, clinics have been overwhelmed by patients traveling from other states.
Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women face unique barriers to abortion:
- AAPI working women are overrepresented in the frontline and service industry, often working without health insurance let alone paid medical or family leave.
- Sixty-six percent of Asian Americans and 30 percent of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders speak a language other than English at home and experience difficulties in accessing health care due to language barriers.
- AAPI women face an increased risk of criminalization for their pregnancy outcomes because of racial profiling rooted in anti-immigrant sentiments and sex-selective abortion bans.
- Nearly two-thirds of Asian Americans and one-fifth of Pacific Islanders are foreign-born and the criminalization of abortion heightens fears of adverse immigration consequences for undocumented individuals, refugees, and other immigrants regardless of their immigrant status.
Eighty-five percent of AAPI women support women making decisions about their own reproductive health.
Ensuring access abortion and all reproductive health care is one of our top priorities.
This is our fight. This impacts all of us.
Our diversity is our greatest strength. As AAPI organizations, community members, along with our allies, we believe in reproductive justice and the freedom to grow the families of our choice, to thrive, and to live healthy lives.
Our AAPI Abortion Solidarity statement sends a collective message to elected officials and decision makers that each of us deserves to have the personal authority to make decisions about their own bodies.