Listen: Rep. Diana DeGette on why reproductive freedom must be protected

It has been two years since the Supreme Court made the historic decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which had protected the right to abortion in the United States. Since then, 21 states have severely restricted or outright banned access to abortion care.

Diana DeGette, a Democrat who has represented Colorado’s 1st Congressional District in the House of Representatives since 1997, and who has co-chaired the House’s Pro-Choice Caucus since 2000, joins the podcast this week to discuss how the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision has affected American health care and politics. She believes the decision has actually awakened voters to the idea that they need to protect their access to health care. “Before the Dobbs decision [which overturned Roe v. Wade], the majority of Americans would say they were pro-choice, but many of them would support certain restrictions. … Now, two years after Dobbs, public opinion has vehemently shifted in the other direction.”

DeGette also expressed concerned that far-right lawmakers will continue to push for more restrictive laws, seeking a national abortion ban as well as restrictions on in vitro fertilization and contraception.

As she wrote in her First Opinion essay, “In the two years since the Dobbs decision, it’s become clear that draconian abortion bans aren’t keeping the country healthy — they are pushing pregnant Americans toward more drastic measures.”

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