Infuriated, but Unsurprised: Roe v Wade Draft Decision - Women's Foundation California

Photo by Act for Abortion (CCF)

We are infuriated, but unsurprised.

Reading the leaked draft Supreme Court decision last night, we had the voices of legions of women of color in our ears who have anticipated the reversal of Roe v. Wade for years.

Roe provides a floor for the right to an abortion and we absolutely want a floor. We also want to reach towards something higher; a political reality where all people’s bodily autonomy is affirmed and supported.

We are crystal clear that the reversal of Roe v. Wade will devastate the health, safety, and wellbeing of women, girls, and people with uteruses and their families and communities all across this country. We also know that while this draft decision doesn’t overturn the constitutional right to abortion yet, access to abortion for Black and Indigenous women, women of color, immigrants, low-income people with uteruses is not and has not been easily accessible, even in a reproductive freedom state like California.

Amidst our tears and our fury, we deepen our commitment to working alongside our powerhouse partners towards reproductive justice and true abortion access. We will continue to take our lead from Black, Indigenous, and women of color advocates as we navigate this moment and what comes next.

We need more than magical thinking to reach a future where  abortion is safe and legal and accessible.  Together, we can support reproductive justice organizations doing radical work to build the future of abortion.

Abortion is healthcare. End of story. It is up to all of us to co-create the story of what comes next, how we meet this moment and all the moments that come after.

As an intersectional feminist organization, so much of our orientation is about making the connections. This leaked decision is about abortion, but it is also about so much more. The push to overturn Roe v. Wade is connected to the push to dismantle voting rights. What will it mean for abortion access to be decided at the state level if folks are being denied their right to vote? We can see clearly that this decision is about our right to bodily autonomy, which includes abortion but is also about gender expression, LGBTQ+ rights, who we love, and how we form our families.

We have spent over forty years advancing policy and supporting organizations to build a California where our bodies, our families, and our communities are healthy, safe, and prosperous.

Together we will hold that vision and continue to act, build, invest, and live into that possibility  today, tomorrow, and for all the days to come.

 

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