{"id":58457,"date":"2022-06-24T15:40:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-24T22:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/news\/king-county-approves-emergency-grant-after-u-s-supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade\/"},"modified":"2022-06-24T15:40:00","modified_gmt":"2022-06-24T22:40:00","slug":"king-county-approves-emergency-grant-after-u-s-supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/news\/king-county-approves-emergency-grant-after-u-s-supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade\/","title":{"rendered":"King County approves emergency grant after U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t
Americans woke up on June 24 to news of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, and while abortions and reproductive care will remain legal in Washington, the state is expected to become strained.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Originally decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973, the Roe v. Wade ruling protected a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“Republicans ripped away our rights and made this generation the first generation of American women with fewer rights than their mothers,” said Washington Sen. Patty Murray, who is also the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Sen. Murray brought up how Republicans are now pushing for a federal abortion ban, and expects Republicans to go after birth control next.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“Republicans are forcing women to stay pregnant and give birth when they don’t want to — no matter the circumstances,” said Murray. “Republicans are even passing laws to jail women who get abortions and the doctors who provide them.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
On June 24, King County Executive Dow Constantine said healthcare providers and public health leaders are bracing for a large influx of individuals traveling to Washington and King County in order to obtain abortions.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Constantine announced that a $1 million grant in emergency funding would be provided to bolster abortion response in Washington. The Northwest Abortion Access Fund (NWAAF) will receive $500,000 directly, and another $500,000 will go to Public Health–Seattle & King County as an emergency fund to ensure the local healthcare system is able to respond to the expected surge in abortions.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“This morning’s ruling by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade is the culmination of a decades-long strategy by right-wing zealots to strip the essential right to abortion care from millions of Americans,” said Constantine.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Planned Parenthood released a statement on June 24 where it was relayed how the consequences of the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade will largely fall on Americans who face the greatest barriers to health care, including Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities; people with low incomes; LGBTQ+ people; immigrants; and people living in rural areas.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t