Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “workaround” for the Supreme Court’s ruling last week that states can restrict abortions is to terminate pregnancies on federal land — which presumably could mean abortion clinics in national parks.
The New York Democrat raised the bizarre prospect while railing against the Hyde Amendment, which bans the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape.
“I will say, on a policy response, we should — we need to be working on repealing the Hyde Amendment in Congress right now,” Ocasio-Cortez pronounced. “I am proud to say that we have successfully started to take the steps to repeal the Hyde Amendment. … repealing the Hyde Amendment will allow the federal government to invest in access to reproductive care on — in any place that has federal jurisdiction, including places with federal jurisdiction in red states.”
“I have brought up, for example, the prospects of increasing abortion access on federal lands in red states,” Ocasio-Cortez declared. “There are workarounds around this. We can start exploring this now.”
Ocasio-Cortez had initially called for using public lands for on July 24, ranting at a rally in New York City’s Union Square, “One of the things that we know too, is that there are also things actions at President Biden’s disposal that he can mobilize, aren’t there? I’ll start with the babiest of the babiest of the baby steps: Open abortion clinics on federal lands in red states right now.”
Federal lands include national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, conservation areas, monuments, wildernesses, historic sites, memorials, battlefields, recreation areas, wild and scenic rivers, seashores and lakeshores, and trails, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI).
“Our national parks are America’s crown jewels, inspiring awe and wonder. Iconic locations like Yosemite and Yellowstone attract visitors from all over the world, but our public lands are so much more than just the big 61 national parks,” DOI writes. “They’re also scenic rivers, national marine monuments, national battlefields and wildernesses.”
“With more than 400 national parks, 560 national wildlife refuges and nearly 250 million acres of other public lands managed by Interior, there’s at least one public land near you,” DOI adds.
Ocasio-Cortez has referred to national parks as examples of Democratic Socialism; in 2018 she tweeted, “Back home after a lovely few days off enjoying US examples of Democratic Socialism, like: Acadia National Park.”
Back home after a lovely few days off enjoying US examples of Democratic Socialism, like:
– Acadia National Park
– Café Co-ops (Def Top 5 best breakfast sandwiches I’ve ever had 🍳)
– Supporting worker-owned businesses
– Bonus: Spotted a @PPact helping people, per usual✌🏽💜 pic.twitter.com/xmiYXutfpS— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 19, 2018