Kirsten Gillibrand: ‘Too Many Male Politicians’ Driving Abortion Debate

2020 presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) argued Wednesday that “too many” male lawmakers are driving anti-abortion legislation nationwide as the country faces what she described as an “all-out assault on women’s constitutional rights” aimed at overturning Roe v. Wade.

“Right now, the conversation about what women can do with our own bodies is being driven by too many male politicians. It should be led by the actual experts: women and doctors,” Gillibrand tweeted. “So I’m going to hear from the people most directly affected by abortion bans like Georgia’s.”

We're facing an all-out assault on women’s constitutional rights, explicitly aimed at overturning Roe v. Wade. We need to loudly proclaim that reproductive rights are nonnegotiable, and join together to defend them at every level—in Washington, in the courts, and in the states.

— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) May 15, 2019

“We’re facing an all-out assault on women’s constitutional rights, explicitly aimed at overturning Roe v. Wade,” the New York Democrat added. “We need to loudly proclaim that reproductive rights are nonnegotiable, and join together to defend them at every level—in Washington, in the courts, and in the states.”

Her remarks come on the heels of a planned visit to Georgia on Thursday, the latest state to enact abortion laws criminalizing procedures that kill infants. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the White House hopeful will headline an Atlanta event, where she protests alongside women leaders the Peach State’s new “Heartbeat” law. Georgia’s Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act prohibits abortions in the state after a heartbeat is detected, which occurs around the sixth week of pregnancy. Exceptions in the law include cases of rape, incest, or if the life of the mother is in danger.

Late Tuesday evening, the Alabama State Senate voted 25-6 to pass a bill which criminalizes all abortions except for when the life of the mother is at risk. The law institutes a 10-to-99-year jail sentence for doctors who perform an abortion.

Gillibrand’s Atlanta trip will mark her first visit to Georgia since announcing her candidacy for president. Thus far, the New York Democrat has struggled to gain traction in the polls amid a growing field of Democrat candidates, which now stands at 23.  On Monday, Gillibrand “gender bias” for her dismal poll numbers and lackluster media exposure. “I think it’s just gender bias. I think people are generally biased against women. I think also biased against young women,” the senator told CNN. “There’s just bias and it’s real and it exists, but you have to overcome it.”

Georgia’s strict anti-abortion legislation has not only drawn the ire of politicians but Hollywood, as well. Various California-based movie studios have threatened to boycott the state in a bid to hurt its status of one of the country’s most attractive places for movie and television production. Actress and left-wing activist Alyssa Milano has even called for women to participate in a “sex strike” to protest the law. However, both liberals and conservatives also lampooned her idea, with conservatives praising her for promoting abstinence and liberals saying she was pushing a false narrative that women only have sex as a favor to men.