October 11, 2022
Honorable Mayor and City Council
City of Long Beach
411 W. Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, CA 90802
Subject: Support for Long Beach City Council Agenda Item R-18 – Opposition to National Abortion Ban Legislation
Dear Honorable Mayor and City Council,
This Tuesday, you have an incredibly important opportunity to stand in solidarity with women and pregnant people in Long Beach, in California, and across our great nation. Under the so-called “Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-term Abortions Act” introduced to Congress by Senator Graham (R-NC), abortions taking place after 15 weeks would be prohibited except under rigid, unworkable “exceptions”, the medical bases for which are not ground in fact.
This proposed legislation would severely limit the rights of pregnant people everywhere to make their own healthcare decisions and access appropriate reproductive healthcare. It would also subject providers to the risk of being charged with a federal crime if their “reasonable medical judgment” is called into question by a judge—not a medical professional.
Simply put, this bill would endanger the health, freedom, and even life of pregnant people anywhere in the United States. The havoc it would wreak on our maternal health system, beyond the pressure it has been placed under by the overturn of Roe vs Wade, would be immense. As it is the job of any city to protect its residents, the City of Long Beach should make its opposition to this bill known and affirm its position that government at any level has no business interfering with a woman's right to make her own reproductive decisions.
We urge you to support agenda item R-18: the resolution proposed by your colleagues Vice Mayor Rex Richardson, Councilmember Cindy Allen, and Councilmember Suely Saro in opposition to S.4840 and H.R.1080.
Sincerely,
Naida Tushnet, PhD - Boardmember, Women of Long Beach
Jacqui Viale – Boardmember, Women of Long Beach, Founding Member, LB Resister Sisters Julie Dean – Founding Member, LB Resister Sisters
Lisa Del Soto – LB/OC Women Rising