On "Forbes Newsroom," Mini Timmaraju, President and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, discussed her organizations $100 million plan to help bolster reproductive rights in the 2024 elections, and warned about Project 2025's plans to attack abortion.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hi, everyone. I'm Maggie McGrath, editor of Forbes Women. Abortion and reproductive rights
00:07have been one of the most motivating factors in driving voters to the polls in the midterm
00:12elections, and they are poised to be one of the biggest issues in the 2024 presidential election.
00:19Here to explain exactly what's going on is Minnie Timaraju. She is the president and CEO of
00:26Reproductive Freedom for All. Minnie, thank you so much for being here.
00:31Thank you so much for having me.
00:33Let's start with a $100 million campaign that your organization is taking part in.
00:39It's called Abortion Access Now. And what is it?
00:44You know, this is an opportunity for nine national reproductive rights, health and
00:48justice organizations to come together and really make historic investment in voter education,
00:55leading up to the election, but also building our grassroots momentum for a 2025 Congress
01:03so that we are equipped with the most robust and most organized and most activated membership
01:08across our orgs to really fight for federal legislation and be ready for, frankly, all the
01:14scenarios that we are mapping out, given all that's in flux politically in this country.
01:19So this is nine organizations, organizations you've heard of, like Planned Parenthood and ACLU,
01:25organizations you might not be as familiar with, like the National Women's Law Center,
01:29In Our Own Voice, National Asia-Pacific Women's Forum. What we're trying to do here is bring
01:34together the breadth and the depth of the reproductive rights movement to really make
01:40sure we're approaching this from the most robust, expansive policy lens possible.
01:46And that means, in practical terms, that we're not just fighting for restoring a federal right
01:51to abortion, although that is like critical, like baseline, we've got to get back to a right
01:56in all 50 states, but we're also fighting for expanded access to abortion care. Because for
02:02a long time in this country, even though we're always the law of the land, in so many parts of
02:06the country, women, particularly women of color, women in rural areas, pregnant people who had a
02:11hard time making ends meet, didn't have access to care because of prohibitions on access, whether
02:17it was distance, whether it was cost. So we're really aiming for a very robust platform. And we
02:23know eight of the ten Americans now support abortion access and understand how vital it is
02:28for very unfortunate reasons, right? Because of Dobbs and the overturning of Roe. So how do we
02:35capitalize, unfortunately, on a very tragic situation to get the best, most robust policy
02:40possible in a place like Washington, D.C., which is a tough place? It is a tough place. Now,
02:45100 million dollars is a lot of money. How are you and your cohort intending to spend this?
02:51Is this on advertising? Are you supporting candidates? What's the division of dollars here?
02:56We are, this is a C3 and a C4 side campaign. The bulk of what we're doing right now is C3,
03:04and that 100 million represents money that's already been invested by many of the orgs,
03:07that we've already committed to this fight, and some new money that we're raising for this work.
03:12So for an example, the types of things we're doing, we're definitely doing digital ads,
03:16but we are not leading with digital ads. We're honestly leading with organizing. So a lot of
03:21these resources are going to our partners and our allies in states where we have a lot of critical
03:28grassroots mobilization to do, where our movement may have a thinner bench of organizations with
03:34members. We know that this has to be a people-powered movement, that we cannot rely on
03:39the whims of what's happening in Washington, D.C. We also know that to truly build long-term
03:45political power for our movement, it's about making sure our numbers are well represented
03:49in the variety of states, not just the states where we've been investing with ballot measures,
03:54or not just in battleground states where there's going to be a lot of air time on abortion.
03:58We've got to go to tougher places and tougher folks who don't get that information and educate
04:04them on the stakes. So it's a lot of voter education through digital and online organizing,
04:09a lot of actual like boots on the ground, door to door, a lot of community, you know,
04:14town halls, house parties, a lot of the old school tactics that are really vital to breaking through
04:19the noise, to really educate folks who are not getting the information in traditional ways.
04:26I see. I was going to ask if this was part of a get out the vote measure in battleground states,
04:30and if some of the money was going, and then if some of the money was going to go towards
04:34the ballot measures, which we're seeing the petitions for the signatures in a few different
04:38states. But this sounds like it's supplementing those efforts.
04:41That's right. It is. And the way that I would ask folks to think about it,
04:45the way I'd explain it is this is focused on a federal solution. So while many of our orgs are
04:50sitting at the tables and the campaigns in the states on ballot measures, and some of our orgs
04:55like us, Planned Parenthood, EMILY's List, we have federal PACs, we endorse candidates,
04:59we can legally do that through our other mechanisms. This campaign is mostly focused
05:04on voter education and voter mobilization around a federal policy, a set of federal
05:10policy solutions to the crisis. Federal policy, when it comes to federal policy on abortion and
05:16reproductive health care, it sounds like a tall order in this political environment.
05:22How likely are we to see a federal action here? You know, it's definitely a tough environment.
05:30I think it's still not outside of our grasp. You know, we feel very confident about the
05:35stakes. I'm putting my hat as Reproductive Freedom for All for our PAC. I feel very confident in our
05:42stakes and our chances in the House of Representatives. We're working really
05:47closely with our friends in the DTRIP, and we've got enough targets in this country that are very,
05:52very close, where we feel very optimistic about the U.S. House. The Senate is tough,
05:58but the latest polls have most of our Senate battleground races ahead of President Biden,
06:04which is an important thing right now, and doing really well. And some of our toughest races
06:10in the U.S. Senate are in places where we have a lot of momentum around ballot measures, Arizona,
06:15Nevada, and then even in Montana. So, you know, Jon Tester is running alongside a ballot measure.
06:21You know, Ruben Gallego is running alongside a ballot measure. And then in places like Michigan
06:25and Ohio, you've had recent victories that have really mobilized voters around abortion,
06:30and you've got U.S. Senate candidates, Sherrod Brown, we're hoping Alyssa Slatkin, she's still
06:35in her primary, will be capitalizing on how holding the Senate is going to be critical to
06:40protecting those wins in those states. And then, look, at the White House, we've been very clear
06:45that only a Biden-Harris administration can deliver on a federal right to abortion,
06:50that you need a pro-reproductive freedom trifecta, which I understand probably sounds
06:55unrealistic to a lot of people, but we're running to win. We believe abortion, and the data all
07:00shows it, that when it's on the ballot, it wins. So we need to make this election a clear contrast
07:06between Joe Biden and Donald Trump around abortion access. One candidate in one party
07:12wants to restore that right, and one candidate in one party wants to rescind all the good work
07:17this administration has done, plus pass and sign a national abortion ban, despite what Donald Trump
07:23says. And it's really clear, and you mentioned Project 25-5 when we started, so I mean,
07:28that's the blueprint that we really have to educate Americans on. There's a lot to unpack
07:34there. I just want to go back to something you said. You said some of the candidates that the
07:37PAC has supported are polling ahead of Joe Biden. Why is that important? Are you making contingency
07:43plans in case he pulls out of the race and a different candidate steps in for the Democrats?
07:48It's important. I'm so glad you asked me. We're not making contingency plans.
07:52All of our work is around a Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket, but I'm glad you asked me to clarify.
07:57Why I think it's important to note that the Senate candidates are running ahead of the President is,
08:03I'll be candid, there's a lot of doom and gloom right now in the Democratic, you know, operative
08:06class here in Washington, D.C. When I'm in the States, what I'm hearing on the ground from my
08:11members, and I have four million members and a lot of them in these battleground states,
08:15they're feeling optimistic, they're feeling confident, and it's showing up in how they're
08:18supporting and polling for these Senate races. So I trust the data of local folks thinking about
08:25who they're supporting for the Senate or in a ballot measure in the state legislature more
08:30than I trust where they're at with Donald Trump and Joe Biden right now, when we know many folks
08:34are not yet dialed into the presidential and, quite frankly, where we know there's still a margin
08:39for us to make up in the presidential. So not about contingency plans, more about the really
08:45strong strength of these candidates, because I've got a lot of folks in my ear saying,
08:49how can you count on the Senate? I'm like, look at how well they're doing.
08:53Interesting. Now, you mentioned no matter what president, former President Trump says,
08:59there's only one candidate who will protect abortion rights. And I wanted to ask you about
09:03the RNC platform, because ahead of the convention next week, the RNC released its policy platform.
09:09And when it comes to reproductive health and abortion, a lot of the headlines used words like
09:15a dramatic shift and a softening in the RNC's historic position when it comes to abortion.
09:23It seems like they are moving away from federal limits or a federal ban on abortion based on some
09:29of the analysis of this platform. But, Minnie, I want to ask, what do you make of the RNC platform
09:34and how it treats reproductive health? Yeah, I mean, it's terrifying. So, look,
09:40I mean, I think the American people are very familiar with Donald Trump's incredible talent
09:45at lying and kind of hiding the truth. A couple of things. First of all, you know, Project 2025,
09:54which is the Heritage Foundation led blueprint for a future Trump administration,
09:57despite his efforts to deny it. I mean, recent reporting today from CNN indicates
10:03over 25 plus authors and folks involved with Project 2025 were also Trump administration
10:09leaders. So they're entangled. They're all part of the same allied organization,
10:15organizational infrastructure that a Biden administration will put forth. And, you know,
10:20you mentioned the Supreme Court cases. You know, what's really terrifying about the medication
10:24abortion and the emergency abortion care cases is the court didn't actually settle the law.
10:28They just punted the cases down the road. And when you look at Project 2025, and right there
10:33in plain writing is plans for a Trump admin to rescind those actions. So those are executive
10:40actions by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Going back to the platform, I was really disturbed to
10:45see the number of outlets that called it softening of language because what the GOP did was really,
10:53really sneaky. They did not do their laundry list of bills that they've supported in the past. And
10:59they made a big show of having a public fight with some of the most extreme abortion activists in
11:03their party. But what they did do was put language that very clearly indicated that they support
11:09states invoking the 14th Amendment and applying it to embryos and fetuses. What that does is it
11:17extends, it basically creates a pathway for legislation that enshrines personhood for
11:26embryos. That is the basis for some of the most challenging, scary attacks on abortion,
11:32but also contraception, and also IVF. You know, the big Alabama case that everybody got
11:37really worked up about on IVF that was based on personhood, personhood theology, personhood
11:44ideology. So that's the root of that movement. And at least a dozen or so anti-abortion leaders
11:52praised it openly. They weren't hiding it, that that was actually a big deal for them.
11:57Because you think about this court, and you think about states enacting rules like that,
12:01you can say leave it to the states, leave it to the states. States enact legislation like this,
12:05it goes to this court. And now we have a federal personhood decision from this Supreme Court. And
12:13that would just be endgame for contraception, IVF, and so many other reproductive technologies.
12:20And listen, that's always been what that movement has advocated for. And we can see it in the light
12:26of day. So excited that so many people caught it. Disappointed in the narrative in the press,
12:31but it's our job as advocates to educate folks about this.
12:35Now, we're talking both about the RNC platform and Project 2025. And this might feel like a
12:40really basic question. But for folks who are seeing headlines about both of these things,
12:44what is the difference between Project 2025 and the RNC platform?
12:50Yeah, I mean, the difference is that the RNC platform is the, quote, official on the record
12:56policy that the party has adopted. But really, in a year where you have an incumbent, and for all
13:03intents and purposes, Donald Trump is functioning as an incumbent in this situation, it is the
13:08president's message. And Donald Trump, I think, is smart to make the message seem more moderate
13:16and palatable. But what Project 2025 is, is actually a lot more powerful. And look, Democrats
13:22have their own versions of this too, right? You have allied groups that support the president
13:27that put out their policy platforms like ours. And you have those organizations endorsing or
13:33supporting that candidate, right? So every side has this. So if you line up Joe Biden and Kamala
13:40Harris, and their equivalent organizations putting out platforms like Project 2025,
13:45they match very clearly what a Biden-Harris administration has done. And that is how you
13:50know what's accurate. When you look at Project 2025, and you look at the Trump administration,
13:56and who he appointed, and what he did in office, not what the GOP platform says,
14:02his campaign mandate, but what he actually did. And that is our message. Look at what Donald
14:08Trump did, not what he's saying through the GOP platform now, but what the folks who ran his admin
14:13did, they overturned Roe. And it was in that blueprint. So believe it when they say they're
14:20going to do it again. What specifically in Project 2025, in the writing most concerns you?
14:27You know, what's the most concerning and what's created a lot of alarm is alternative ways for
14:32them to ban abortion without Congress. You know, we do everything we can to fight back and win back
14:37the House. Hopefully, and I feel very confident, we lose the White House. What that does, and what
14:44Project 2025 sets up is we don't actually need Congress to do these things. Because one of the
14:49things I hear often at the doors is, well, Trump can't do that because he's not going to have
14:53Congress, right? Or he won't have a supermajority in the Senate, and they won't be able to pass a
14:57national ban. And Trump himself has said things like that to the press, like, well, I'm not going
15:01to even be able to pass that. Well, Project 2025 reveals how by using things like the Comstock Act,
15:08an antiquated 1800s anti-obscenity law that was used to prohibit abortion access by mail,
15:16they can shut down abortion pills by mail. It also talks about rescinding approvals for
15:22rescinding approval of medication abortion, a case that was in front of the Supreme Court that they
15:26punted on. Medication abortion is the most popular and most effective and most accessible
15:33and affordable way for abortion care in this country, and it's used in the majority of all
15:36abortions in the country. So we call those efforts backdoor abortion bans. And it also calls on
15:42rescinding the Biden era, you know, EMTALA rule, which was the rule that allowed for emergency
15:48care in abortion cases where it would save the life of the pregnant person. So there's a lot of
15:55stuff like that that's damaging. And there's a lot of stuff that's just silly and inflammatory,
15:59but it indicates how serious these folks are, like changing HHS to the Department of Life,
16:06you know, getting rid of the Gender Policy Council, removing all language about abortion from key,
16:11you know, from key administration documents and executive orders. It seems silly,
16:19but it's quite chilling when you think about the zeal in which they want to just erase abortion
16:25from the federal landscape. But it indicates that these are not folks who are like eight out of 10
16:32Americans. These are zealots who have extremist views that are wildly out of step with the United
16:37States of America. You mentioned the Comstock Act, and I want to ask because we're in this
16:43moment four months out from the general election. Joe Biden is still the commander in chief at this
16:48point in time. Is there any effort to repeal the Comstock Act while Biden is in office and before
16:55the election? Because this keeps coming up in the interviews I've been doing around abortion and
17:00reproductive health care and the concern that this 19th century law, this 1800s law could affect
17:08the way people get reproductive care in 2024. Absolutely. So Senator Tina Smith has a bill she's
17:17filed. I think there's going to be a House companion filed soon. Members, I mean, Senate
17:22Democrats and House Democrats are working on a pathway to rescind, I mean, to revote, to repeal
17:26Comstock. Of course, they don't have the majorities yet to do so, but they are getting ready to do
17:33that. And when I talked about abortion access now and our coalition to get ready for a federal
17:38trifecta, if we win the House and the Senate, we don't win the White House. We're still going to
17:42be pushing for every single piece of legislation and force Donald Trump to veto it. Now, I just
17:48said we're four months out from the general election. We just saw a few Supreme Court
17:53decisions on abortion cases, but they've released all the decisions they can for the time being.
17:59It kind of feels like we're in, I don't know if we would call it a quiet period or a purgatory,
18:03but July is a weird time for for decision making, if you will. So what's your mandate right now?
18:10How are you thinking about this moment in time? So in light of so, you know, even though we had
18:17the two abortion cases where they effectively punted back to lower courts and said we're not
18:21going to really deal with the underlying question, right, we are very active. We joined
18:28several court reform coalitions and we started lobbying on court reform. You know, I think with
18:33the Chevron case and the immunity case, there's a larger discussion about not just abortion and
18:38reproductive freedom, but our very democratic institutions. How much overreach can the
18:43executive branch have? How much power are we giving the judiciary over the executive branch,
18:49over administration? How much power are we giving the president? So some of what we're,
18:56you know, I talked earlier about how a lot of what we're doing as an organization,
18:59Reproductive Freedom for All, but also Abortion Access Now is going to be focused on organizing,
19:04because no matter what, we have to make sure our grassroots movement is empowered with this
19:09information, not only for the election, but also for what comes after the election,
19:14also for fighting back, joining citizen lobby efforts to expand the court, to have stricter
19:21ethics for the court. We need stronger citizen action around the host of issues around democracy,
19:28voting rights. We don't get back to real representative democracy, which is, frankly,
19:34the challenge of reproductive freedom, but also so many other issues that progressives care about,
19:38whether it's gun violence, whether it's climate change. These are all issues that the majority
19:43of Americans support reforms for, and yet we haven't been able to get past the gridlock. So
19:49we've got to keep making sure that our activists and our base, the majority of Americans,
19:54have access to democratic levers of power. So we're really focused on getting out the vote,
20:00but also continuing to build real political power throughout this country.
20:05Mini Timaraju, thank you so much for explaining all of this to us,
20:10and I hope to have you back as the election season continues.
20:14Happy to be there. Happy to be back, and it's so good to chat with you.