‘Bush said she panicked when she found out she was pregnant and decided to get an abortion after wondering how she could support a child on her own at 18 years old. When she had the procedure done, she said the clinic staff spoke to her like she was “trash,” telling her she would wind up on food stamps if she had the baby.
“To all the black women and girls who have had abortions and will have abortions, we have nothing to be ashamed of,” Bush said. “We live in a society that has failed to legislate love and justice for us, so we deserve better.”
Bush, Rep. Barbara Lee and other lawmakers joined feminist Gloria Steinem, reproductive justice advocate Loretta Ross, and Texas-based Drs. Ghazaleh Moayedi, who provides abortions, and Ingrid Skop, who opposes them, in testifying Thursday. Democrats called the hearing in response to mounting challenges to abortion rights across the nation, including a Mississippi case that will be argued before the Supreme Court in December and anti-abortion laws in numerous conservative-leaning states, such as Texas’ new law banning the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy.’
