Statement from Ipas President and CEO Anu Kumar:
What we saw on January 6 at the U.S. Capitol was an act of domestic terrorism, incited by the current president. This was not an “undermining” of democracy, but a direct attack on it.
It was also a stark reminder of the interconnectedness of the racism and white supremacy that are threaded through the history of both the United States and the field of global health. The same people who stormed the U.S. Capitol yesterday have been enabled and encouraged by a racist president who is supported by anti-abortion, anti-rights activists. The actions at the Capitol were horrifying examples of the anti-democracy, anti-rights actions and attacks we’ve seen for four years now.
The anti-choice movement has long resorted to the misinformation, pseudo-science, harmful rhetoric, and violence that fueled the seditionists who stormed the U.S. House and Senate. We have witnessed attacks on clinics, providers, and patients for exercising their constitutional rights. This is not new; and it is not going away unless we actively disavow it and reinstate the rule of law. Everyone, from the president on down, must be held accountable.
We will remember this dark day as the one in which all Americans could not look away from what happens when we ignore racism and misogyny at home and abroad. We at Ipas join in the collective condemnation of this blatant attack on democracy and rights. Our fight for justice continues.