FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 28, 2022
CONTACT: Madison Jacobs, madison@publicrightsproject.org
15 Cities and Counties Send Letter Urging Federal Law Enforcement Agencies to Issue Guidance Restricting Federal Cooperation With State-Level Abortion Bans
Government leaders from New York City, Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, and more co-sign letter to Attorney General Garland and Secretaries Mayorkas and Buttigieg
OAKLAND, CALIF. (July 28, 2022) – A coalition of 15 cities and counties from across 12 states, led by Public Rights Project, issued a public letter to the heads of three federal agencies — Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — urging them to take immediate steps to ensure that their departments do not play any role in the enforcement of state bans on abortion care. The letter is part of a broader effort by local governments to protect access to abortion care for their residents as well as pregnant people across the country.
The letter demands that the three agencies — the Department of Justice, the Deparment of Homeland Security, and the Department of Transportation — “issue directives making clear that their departments and subcomponents will not participate in investigations or other law enforcement activities relating to the criminalization of abortion care.” The cities and counties urge the agencies to limit information sharing and other steps that might support local and state actors in their prosecution of pregnant people, providers, and others relating to abortion care.
“Cities and counties are making extraordinary efforts to overcome the harm the Dobbs decision has already caused,” said Jill Habig, Founder and President of Public Rights Project. “We applaud this coalition of city and county partners in fighting for justice and using all available tools to maintain access to critical, lifesaving health care. We know the federal government can and must do more for its part, too.”
The coalition of cities and counties joining the letter include:
City of Albuquerque, New Mexico
City of Baltimore, Maryland
City of Chelsea, Massachusetts
City of Chicago, Illinois
City of Cincinnati, Ohio
City of Columbus, Ohio
City of Madison, Wisconsin
Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
City of New York, New York
City of Oakland, California
City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
City of Portland, Oregon
City of Sacramento, California
City and County of San Francisco, California
City of St. Paul, Minnseota
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, restrictive abortion laws have (or shortly will) come into effect in nearly half the states. Some of these laws ban all abortions, even in cases where the pregnant person’s life is at risk, penalizing the pregnant person and the medical provider.
The letter explains that the work done by local governments to date includes the deprioritization of criminal enforcement of abortion laws by local police, creation of abortion funds to support access to care, dissemination of public health information, and elimination of co-pays for abortion cover. These local efforts continue to expand across the country and are also increasingly the source of litigation by hostile states.
These efforts also require assistance from the federal government. As the letter concludes: “Access to abortion care is urgently needed throughout the country, and your departments are essential to protecting the rights that the U.S. Supreme Court has sought to eliminate.”
“Access to abortion care is critical to public health and family planning. That’s why Columbus is using every tool we have to protect doctors, women and pregnant people as Ohio’s extreme legislature continues to erode access to safe, legal abortions in our state,” said Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein. “Having our federal partners on board will better protect the rights of those facing personal medical decisions best left to a patient and doctor.”
Here in Milwaukee County, we understand that the vast balance of peer reviewed studies amply demonstrate that the sharp tip of this spear will overwhelmingly victimize women of color and poor women,” said Corporation Counsel and Attorney for Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Margaret Daun. “In turn, overall community wellness, health, and life expectancy will go down — across all demographic groups. Restricting the right to basic bodily autonomy harms us all, and as Milwaukee County continues its mission to become the healthiest county in Wisconsin by eliminating racial disparities, we call upon every department of the Biden administration to take all actions legally permissible to protect women’s bodily autonomy and to publicly affirm that no steps will be taken to further threaten women’s lives and our community’s health through misguided criminalization of basic health care.”
About the Public Rights Project
Public Rights Project is a national organization that works to close the gap between the promise of our laws and the lived reality of marginalized communities. We work hand in hand with local, state, and tribal governments across the U.S. to equitably enforce laws that protect people’s civil and human rights. We build bridges between community organizing and government enforcement, seeking justice for those communities—people of color, immigrants, low wage working people—most affected by inequity.
Web: https://www.publicrightsproject.org/
Twitter: @public_rights
