We at Muslims for Progressive Values are enraged with the Supreme Court of the United States’ 6-3 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health that will uphold Mississippi’s 15 week abortion ban and overturn Roe v. Wade. In doing so, SCOTUS, a group of 9 unappointed officials, will effectively eliminate the constitutional right that American women have held for 50 years to safe, legal, and accessible abortions. The news will impact upwards of 37 million women across more than half the country and will have devastating consequences on the reproductive and sexual health of women, the well being of the children of this country, a woman's ability to escape an abusive and manipulative partner, the right to abort in the case of rape or incest, the economic freedom of women and above all, the bodily autonomy that each and every individual is entitled to in a free, secular, and democratic society.
The decision and the precedent that it sets dehumanizes women and reinforces the notion that to this day, women and gender minorities in this country are second class citizens. This disempowering and violating treatment of women is the antithesis of a free and democratic country, which we see the United States slowly drifting away from in favor of a Christian Theocracy.
At MPV, we condemn the oppression of women in the name of any religion and we continue to uphold the notion that all beings are granted bodily autonomy and responsibility over their sexual and reproductive health by God and that to infringe on another’s bodily autonomy is to violate a fundamental human right that all are entitled to. In reflection, we remember the words of the Holy Qur’an, that “no soul shall be compelled beyond capacity, neither the mother made to suffer for child or the father for his offspring” (Qur’an 2:233), as a reminder that God wishes only ease for us and that ease is nowhere to be found without bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom. The attempts to restrict these reproductive freedoms that are so essential to a developed and fruitful nation must be condemned, attacked, and fought against at every turn and MPV is committed to stopping any attempt made to restrict these rights and freedoms that women and gender minorities have fought to obtain for so many years.
Although our hearts are heavy with this news, we know now is not the time to bow down to the current gradient that silences the voices of women and obstructs their right to control and maintain autonomy of their bodies and their sexuality. We will mourn, we will grieve, but let there be no doubt, the fight is “on”.
