The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) launched an abortion rights fund this week to support gubernatorial races in states where abortion access is at risk. This comes after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which returns the issue of abortion to the states.
ABC News reported that the DGA launched the “Protect Reproductive Rights Fund” on Tuesday. It will raise $10 million for the fund and will be targeted at Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin.
Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will chair the abortion fund. In an interview with ABC, Hochul said that it came as a result of the Supreme Court overturning Roe.
"We can look to Washington for leadership, that's important, but also the power does rest with the states," Hochul said.
"And we've known all along that we are the ones who are the firewall between what the Supreme Court does and doing what we can to protect the rights of our women,” she added. "I want to take ownership of this [fund] and support other Democratic candidates, whether they're incumbent governors or they're challengers, because where these critical decisions will be made is in the statehouses.”
In her own state, Hochul is reportedly allocating $35 million to abortion providers to accomodate an “influx” of out-of-state patients who will come to obtain an abortion.
On the west coast, Democratic pro-abortion Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that he will push similar measures to help out-of-state women obtain abortions in California. In addition, residents will have the oppotunity to vote on measures pertaining to abortion access come November.
“California will not back down from the fight to protect abortion rights as more than half the states in this country, enabled by the Supreme Court, ban or severely restrict access,” Newsom said in a statement. “We are ensuring Californians will have the opportunity this November to enshrine the right to choose in our state constitution. And we’re not waiting until November to take action, today’s executive order ensures that the state will not hand over patients who come here to receive care and will not extradite doctors who provide care to out-of-state patients here. In California, women will remain protected.”
After Roe fell, several states’ “trigger” laws went into effect restricting access to abortion and protecting unborn lives. Legal challenges in some states have already taken place, as Townhall covered. In one case, the Texas Supreme Court allowed a pre-Roe law to continue, banning most abortions in the state, after a judge in a lower court blocked the law from taking effect overturn SCOTUS overturned Roe.