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The Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade

Today the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion by a 6-3 majority. This right will now be determined state by state. The Secular Coalition for America condemns this decision. As we said in a letter to the Senate last month before the vote on legislation that would have codified Roe v. Wade into law, “A Supreme Court that does not adequately reflect the beliefs and values of Americans is making decisions that are not based on reason, science, and our secular Constitution. We who care about the welfare of women, families, and our country — and the integrity of the judicial branch — believe that the Women's Health Protection Act must be codified into law.”

In 13 states abortion either became illegal today or will within a few weeks because of previously passed “trigger laws.” Five more states still have abortion bans in place from before the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that go back into effect.

Devastating consequences, especially for low-income women and women of color, will follow the wave of bans enacted by this ruling. New challenges will be made in courts as non-Christians assert their right to abortion based on their religious beliefs and their First Amendment rights. We will continue upholding secular values and fighting for the equal rights of nonreligious Americans, which include reproductive health legislation that protects the right to privacy, respects all people, and is grounded in scientific and medical fact.

You can read the Supreme Court decision here ([link removed]) . The following are some passages from the minority's dissent:

“The Court reverses course today for one reason and one reason only: because the composition of this Court has changed.”

“As a matter of constitutional method, the majority’s commitment to replicate in 2022 every view about the meaning of liberty held in 1868 has precious little to recommend it.”

“After today, young women will come of age with fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers had. The majority accomplishes that result without so much as considering how women have relied on the right to choose or what it means to take that right away. The majority’s refusal even to consider the life-altering consequences of reversing Roe and Casey is a stunning indictment of its decision.”

“The majority claims that the reliance interests women have in Roe and Casey are too “intangible” for the Court to consider, even if it were inclined to do so. This is to ignore as judges what we know as men and women. The interests women have in Roe and Casey are perfectly, viscerally concrete. Countless women will now make different decisions about careers, education, relationships, and whether to try to become pregnant than they would have when Roe served as a backstop.”

“The majority could write just as long an opinion showing, for example, that until the mid-20th century, “there was no support in American law for a constitutional right to obtain [contraceptives].” So one of two things must be true. Either the majority does not really believe in its own reasoning. Or if it does, all rights that have no history stretching back to the mid19th century are insecure. Either the mass of the majority’s opinion is hypocrisy, or additional constitutional rights are under threat. It is one or the other.”
The Secular Coalition for America works every day to defend the separation of religion and government and to fight anti-democratic ideologies like Christian nationalism. Your support for this work is vital.
Help us fight for equal rights for nonreligious Americans! ([link removed])

Scott MacConomy, Director of Policy ad Government Affairs at the Secular Coalition for America, wears a blue suit and stands with his arms crossed over his chest in front of the United States Capitol Building.

Your advocate,

Scott MacConomy
Director of Policy and Government Affairs
Secular Coalition for America
P.S. Please consider leaving a legacy gift to the Secular Coalition for America ([link removed]) . The protection of our secular values requires eternal vigilance.

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