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Friend,
Even though a draft opinion was leaked a few weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey is no less disgraceful – one that should deeply alarm Americans who care about our most fundamental rights.
The court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization will allow states to ban abortion outright or enforce harmful restrictions on access to abortion services, eliminating the right to choose for countless people across the country even in cases of rape, incest or to save the life or health of the pregnant person.
In 13 states, mostly in the South and Midwest, legislators have already passed repressive “trigger laws” that ban or significantly restrict abortion accessibility with immediate effect. Many of these state laws criminalize people seeking reproductive care, some targeting medical professionals servicing them or private parties who lend aid. In Arkansas and Oklahoma, for example, a physician will face up to 10 years in prison. In Tennessee, abortions will be prohibited even in cases of rape.
Altogether, about half the states have passed some form of abortion ban in recent years, and they will now have the leeway to put such laws into effect.
This decision is particularly harmful for people living in poverty, who already have limited to no access to quality medical care and lack the resources to travel to another state for necessary medical procedures.
Mississippi, where the Dobbs case originated, has the highest child poverty rate among all states and one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country. The state also has the worst racial disparities in health care. The failure of Mississippi legislators to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage for new mothers, as they have sought to restrict abortion access, is reprehensible.
As we know, this decision to overturn the rights acknowledged in Roe v. Wade, a precedent that has been in place for almost 50 years, is the culmination of a powerful, concerted movement to ensure that politicians control women’s bodies. It should be noted that some senators who voted to confirm the three justices nominated by former President Trump – Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett – now say they were misled during the confirmation process.
When the draft Dobbs decision was leaked earlier, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowksi said the ruling would be “completely inconsistent with what Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh said in their hearings and in our meetings in my office.”
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin also tweeted that he was “alarmed” that Gorsuch and Kavanaugh decided against Roe v.Wade after testifying under oath that it was settled legal precedent.
How could any senator who voted in favor of these justices have been so naïve? Trump said during his campaign that he would nominate justices who could be certain to overturn Roe.
Endangers fundamental rights broadly
The court’s radical decision in Dobbs will have serious, long-term consequences for individuals and their families. This terrible ruling also endangers other fundamental rights, putting many other communities at risk. The constitutional rights in jeopardy include the right to contraception and equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community.
We welcome Attorney General Merrick Garland’s strong, unequivocal statement today that the First Amendment protects an individual’s right to inform and counsel others on reproductive care available in other states, that the Department of Justice will enforce federal laws against violence directed against clinics, and that federal agencies will continue to provide reproductive health services to the extent authorized by federal law.
There have been significant moments in the Supreme Court’s history when it has issued shameful decisions that deny equal protection under the law to an entire group of people, and this is one of those moments.
The question that should concern all of us now is: How far will this court go to force an extreme-right agenda on the American people?
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In solidarity,
Margaret Huang, SPLC president and CEO
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