The achievements of Margaret Sanger (1879-1966) (see picture) are the most important reason you can buy condoms, read sexual information, or get health services from Planned Parenthood. The last decade of her life was spent raising money to develop the contraceptive Pill that you, your wife, or girlfriend probably take every day.

Unfortunately, reproduction freedom opponents are working just as hard to take away your rights. While some of the new laws being passed are direct attacks on abortion rights, intended to bring the issue back before the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court (most of whom were appointed by the two President Bush’s), most of the hundreds of other laws whittle away at the freedoms of a small number of women.

Thus anti-abortion rights activists want to steal your rights one by one until you realize, too late, that you cannot get an abortion because it is too costly, or it will take so long that your health will be in danger. Some of these laws could literally kill you--just as pregnancy used to kill thousands of women every year--because anti-abortion rights activists don’t care if you die. Already, the chance an American woman will die during childbirth has more than doubled since 1987, and African-American women are more than four times as likely to die while giving birth than white women.

If killing women wasn’t important enough, the Republican-led drive to abolish reproductive freedoms is keeping Americans from getting jobs, because anti-abortion activists care more about stopping abortion than restoring jobs and the economy, and Republicans care more about pleasing anti-abortion activists than putting Americans back to work. Republicans even publicly insist that defeating Obama is their “No. 1 Priority;” if they beat Obama, forget about your rights!

Rather than keep “playing games” with anti-abortion rights activists for the next 10, 20, 100 years, in literally every state and territory—as they want--the Margaret Sanger Reproductive Freedoms Amendment (RRA) (see below) would strike down all laws taking away your access to abortion, birth control, and sexual health information.

While passage of the Reproductive Freedom Amendment may seem impossible, 2013 is the best chance for guaranteeing abortion rights in all 50 states since the U.S. Supreme Court partially protected your rights to abortion and birth control in 1973. Passage of the Reproductive Rights Amendment will require a 2/3 majority in the House and Senate, followed by approval in 38 states. Governors and President Obama have no direct role.

Pushing for the Reproductive Rights Amendment would also give reproductive freedom supporters a reason to care enough about the 2014 elections to help get sweeping pro-choice majorities elected to the House, Senate, and state legislatures.

For these reasons, please sign this petition to let your U.S. Representative and Senator that you want them to vote for a constitutional amendment to protect your reproductive rights and freedoms.

Note about the photo: In 1929, when Boston police  threatened to stop any meeting at which Sanger spoke, she stood on stage with a gag over her mouth while a friend read her speech. (photo: Planned Parenthood)

MARGARET SANGER REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOMS AMENDMENT

Section 1. Congress shall make no law denying or abridging the reproductive freedoms of the People, nor any state or combination of states, territories, and Indian tribes.

Section 2. The right of persons in the United States to control their reproduction shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, any State, or combination of states, territories, and Indian tribes.

Section 3. The freedom of females to decide the disposition of their reproductive organs and biological processes within and without their bodies shall be supreme and inviolable, and no one may interfere with that freedom for any reason, under color of law or otherwise. 

Section 4. No person shall be denied the freedom to learn about reproduction, control over reproduction, or sexuality, regardless of age or topic.

Section 5. No person shall be denied the freedom to receive information, devices, medications, and other substances and access to methods for reproductive control through purchase, gift, or lending.

Section 6. No tax, fee, levy, license, differential tax treatment, or other charge or restriction shall be levied upon information, devices, medications, substances, insurance, and services for reproductive control and the exercise of sexuality, other than one levied by a jurisdiction upon the sale or use of merchandise and services generally.

Section 7. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain freedoms over human reproduction, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the People, male, female, and others alike.

Section 8. While this article is self-executing and inviolable, Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation consistent with this article.