Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05) recently joined patients, health care providers, and abortion rights advocates as Free & Just’s “Ride to Decide” national bus tour stopped in Atlanta.
The Ride to Decide bus tour comes as attacks on reproductive freedom escalate across the country. Support for legal abortion has increased since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, but that hasn’t stopped anti-abortion extremists and conservative lawmakers from continuing to undermine Americans’ access to abortion care, birth control, and IVF treatment.
At the event, local patient storytellers, health care providers, and community members shared how attacks on reproductive freedom harm women and families in Georgia and across the country.
“It is the leaders in Georgia who have failed us and gotten us into this predicament in the first place,” said Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05), who highlighted how the state’s six-week abortion ban has made OBGYN shortages worse and left people without access to care. “When we talk about stopping abortion bans and protecting reproductive freedom – we are using our voices, our stories, and freedom.”
“Most folks who are accessing abortion care are already parents, and nobody knows better what their capacity is to parent than people who are parents. You can’t tell someone to ‘suck it up” or “have another baby’ – you cannot force someone to birth and take care of a child,” said Nandi, a mother of two and an abortion doula who shared her own experience accessing abortion care in Georgia. “As an abortion-haver, as a mom of two, as a doula – it’s really important that we continue to use our voices, share our stories, build our community, talk to our representatives, and let our voices be heard.”
“Sometimes in the emergency department we discover a new pregnancy, and I give patients news that changes their lives. We used to be able to sit down and talk through their options, but with the way things are right now, there’s not really much we can do once they hit six-weeks,” Dr. Juhi Varshney, an emergency medicine physician in Atlanta. “The abortion bans in our state are hurting all of us, and in ways we didn’t expect.”
“I work in an amazing clinic, but we are tired. We work every single day to help folks get to different states to get care,” said Suki O, an ultrasound technician in the Atlanta area who helps people seeking abortion care. “Every day I tell my patients ‘I love you, hold your head up,’ and ‘I am proud of you for making the best decision for you and your family.’”
“Men cannot afford to be passive observers in this fight,” said Davan’te Jennings, the Chairman of the Young Democrats of Georgia Black Caucus and an advocate with Men4Choice, who urged men in Georgia and across the country to engage in the fight for reproductive freedom. “When we speak out against harmful abortion laws, we show our mothers, our sisters, our partners, and our daughters, we show them that we care about their health, their autonomy, and their futures.”
“Young Georgians know that access to abortion and health care services may save their life or the life of someone close to them,” said Andrés Parra with the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition. “Young Georgians deserve the right to have a conversation with their families and their health care providers to make the best decisions for their health and their future. There is no room for legislators.”
About Post Author
