Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) called abortion “lifesaving healthcare” and compared abortion pills to headache medication and antibiotics.
At a discussion of “Medication Abortion Access and Republican Efforts to Ban Abortion Nationwide,” Bush voiced her support of medication abortions and condemned attempts to restrict access to pills used to end the life of an unborn child. The event also featured Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas).
“Banning medication abortion would be like placing a ban on Tylenol [or] a ban on antibiotics,” Bush said. “There is no scientific, no valid medical reason to do so. It is only political propaganda.”
The congresswoman also asserted the “safe” and “effective” nature of medication abortions, saying that abortion pills are “no different from any other medication that’s safe and effective.”
Related: Kirby: US Military Readiness Depends on Women's Ability to Get Abortions
Bush continued on to cite statistics on the widespread use of abortion pills such as Mifepristone, noting that over half of the abortions in the U.S. are carried out using the drug and praising it as a “97.7% effective way to terminate a pregnancy.” She also emphasized that Mifepristone has been recognized as safe by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the past 23 years. She called access to medication abortion a “lifeline” for women across the country.
“Medication abortion is a lifeline,” Bush said. “A lifeline for the person working multiple jobs that cannot afford to take a day off work because wages are too low or they don’t have paid sick leave, a lifeline for the mom of two who cannot afford childcare or cannot find affordable childcare.”
“It’s a lifeline for the trans folks who face transphobia and bigotry because of anti-LGBT+ laws and outrageous bans on gender-affirming care,” she added, noting the impact of abortion access on the LGBTQ+ demographic.
Rep. Cori Bush says restricting access to abortion pills is equivalent to “placing a ban on Tylenol.”
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 18, 2023
Last I checked Tylenol didn’t kill babies, but ok…pic.twitter.com/OAR954RtgJ
In April, a Texas federal judge temporarily suspended the FDA’s approval of the pill, while a Washington state federal judge released a contradictory ruling to keep the pill available. Shortly after, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing access to the pill while a lawsuit moves through federal court.
Bush said in an interview with PBS last year that she had felt pressured into having her second abortion when she was 19 and that doctors ignored her concerns that she wasn’t ready.
Follow Us On Twitter
So now we know that population reduction is a goal of the Biden administration. pic.twitter.com/LnTZjCkjiB
— MRCTV (@mrctv) July 17, 2023