Twenty U.S. governors are joining forces to strengthen, expand and protect reproductive rights in their states.
Their coalition — called the Reproductive Freedom Alliance — welcomes all governors who support reproductive freedom to join and commit to fighting for reproductive healthcare in their states. The alliance is nonpartisan, according to a Feb. 21 news release from the office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. All current participants belong to the Democratic Party.
The formation comes two weeks after President Joe Biden said he would veto any attempts to pass a national abortion ban during his State of the Union address.
“In the last year alone, over 36 million women have lost access to critical health care with the overturning of Roe v. Wade,” the governors said in a joint statement. “Medication abortion — one of the safest forms of health care for decades now — may be stripped from our clinics and hospitals nationwide. Doctors face criminal prosecution for providing care. Extremists are trying to restrict access to contraception — and we know they won’t stop there.”
“In the face of this unprecedented assault by states hostile to abortion rights and their enablers in the courts, we are pledging to work together to strengthen abortion firewalls across America,” the joint statement continued. “This fight isn’t over.”
The following states and governors have joined the alliance:
1. California — Gavin Newsom
2. Colorado — Jared Polis
3. Connecticut — Ned Lamont
4. Delaware — John Carney
5. Hawaii — Josh Green, MD
6. Illinois — J.B. Pritzker
7. Maine — Janet Mills
8. Maryland — Wes Moore
9. Massachusetts — Maura Healey
10. Michigan — Gretchen Whitmer
11. Minnesota — Tim Walz
12. New Jersey — Phil Murphy
13. New Mexico — Michelle Lujan Grisham
14. New York — Kathy Hochul
15. North Carolina — Roy Cooper
16. Oregon — Tina Kotek
17. Pennsylvania — Josh Shapiro
18. Rhode Island — Daniel McKee
19. Washington — Jay Inslee
20. Wisconsin — Tony Evers
