Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON – As Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union speech, he faced the most diverse Congress in history.  Most notably, this included a room filled with women members dressed in white, as Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) explained, in a show of solidarity against “Republican attempts to roll back women’s progress.”

He repeated his lies to an audience that knows better than to believe a word he says. But if we have learned one lesson, it’s that we must take Donald Trump seriously.

Despite his many lies, there is one truth: Donald Trump will do everything in his power to erode women’s autonomy over their own health decisions and reverse Roe v. Wade. He’ll continue to do the bidding of the anti-choice committees and donors who are stepping up their state-by-state attack on abortion rights.  If he can’t appoint enough Supreme Court Justices to reverse Roe fast enough,  he’ll continue to appoint judges who will rubber-stamp the worst of his administration’s offenses.

As Stacey Abrams stated in her response, “America achieved a measure of reproductive justice in Roe v. Wade, but we must never forget, it is immoral to allow politicians to harm women and families, to advance a political agenda.” Donald Trump will continue to target programs that benefit women, people of color, low-income families and all the marginalized communities who can’t afford lobbyists and don’t make large campaign contributions.  

The State of our Union is obvious: Donald Trump will continue hurting our country by running a government remade in his own image.  It’s up to us to make sure this never happens.

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