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While we have known since early May that this ruling was coming, we are deeply disheartened by the impact this decision will have on poor working people, in particular immigrants and people of color.
As some members of the Protecting Immigrant Families coalition warned in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court on the Dobbs case, the burden of such a decision will fall disproportionately hard on low-income immigrants of color, who already face language, economic, and immigration status barriers to reproductive health care. Experts anticipate that within one year of this opinion, twenty-six states will have completely banned or severely restricted abortion access, impacting over 40 million people of reproductive age. Most of these states are in the Deep South and Midwest, where immigrants already face innumerable barriers to healthcare – from the heightened chilling effect of public charge to legal restrictions.
We stand firmly with our partners, abortion funds and providers, and organizations fighting for reproductive health access and justice. We believe that everyone should have the right to methods of abortion that they determine to be best for themselves. We believe that protecting immigrants’ access to public benefit programs, healthcare, and economic justice is as essential as ensuring that the right to choose continues to be central in the access to reproductive rights.
We urge Congress to continue the effort to codify the constitutional right to abortion and bodily autonomy. We urge states to protect the right to abortion in their own constitutions. We urge you to not give up the mission of defending access to health care, nutrition programs, public services, and economic support for everyone – regardless of immigration status.
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