“Bans off Our Bodies” is a Painting by Kayla Atkinson Part of the Current “Art Class” Exhibit in the Lewis Gallery of the Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square, Portland. The Beautifylly Executed Painting has Been Purchased by This Blogger, Although it Remains Part of the Exhibit and Will Until the Exhibit Ends Later This Month.
Late this week Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and more than 200 of her Democratic colleagues in the US House of Representtives reintroduced the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) to codify the right to an abortion and protect abortion access nationwide.
The legislation, which passed the House twice in the 117th Congress, but was blocked by Senate Republicans, would establish the federal right for health care providers to carry out an abortion and for patients to receive abortion care, free from medically unnecessary and burdensome restrictions that single out abortion services as compared with other medical procedures with similar risk.
“Let me be clear: Republicans’ end goal has always been to criminalize a woman’s control over her own body. By packing the courts for generations and finally repealing Roe, they ae well on their way to succeeding. “We can’t let them,” said PIngree in the press release issued late this week. “As more and more Republilcan-led states institute draconian abortion bans and propose bills to throw women and doctors in jail, we need federal, codified protections for reproductive health care. Equal access to abortion care – everywhere – is essential for social and economic equality, reproductive autonomy and the right to make our own decisions with dignity and self-determination. The Women’s Health Protection Act is a critical line of defense against Republicans’ war on women and we must get it passed and finally to the president’s desk.”
Pingree is a longtime champion of reproductive freedom and has cosponsored and helped pass several bills in the House to protect those freedoms. In January, she joined her Pro-choice Caucus colleagues in introducing a House resolution to combat attacks on women’s reproductive freedom.
A few words about the above photograph of a painting this blogger is the proud owner of. It depicts the Supreme Court that succeeded in tearing our flag in half when it voted last year to end Roe vs. Wade. The right side of the flag is in angry flames while the left side of the flag is in tearful distress. No politics intended here? The Supreme Court, because of this vote against “settled law” is under storm clouds because of its damaged reputation. This painting by Kayla Atkinson, a Portland high school senior, is part of the current “Art Class” exhibit at the Lewis Gallery, Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square, Portland. For more backgound information on the exhibit, please visit post herein dated March 30, 2023.