SCOTUS Clawback Reproductive Autonomy and Privacy Protections

(WASHINGTON, DC)––Family Values @ Work is a movement network of grassroots coalitions in more than two dozen states working to win paid family and medical leave, earned sick and safe days, and affordable, high-quality childcare at the state and national levels. Today, FV@W Network leaders released the following statement of disgust about the Supreme Court’s Roe decision:

Family Values @ Work condemns SCOTUS’s clawback of reproductive autonomy and privacy protections through the reversal of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. At a moment when people targeted for oppression are facing profound economic, social, and civil threats, this unconscionable denial of rights will push more individuals and families into desperation. We will not let that happen without a fight.

The reproductive and privacy rights affirmed in Roe and Casey have allowed people who can get pregnant to overcome critical barriers to economic and social advancement. In the decades since Roe affirmed a right to abortion, women and trans/non-binary people have achieved major gains in education, financial independence, pay equity, asset development, and job opportunities.

Reproductive control has long been used to oppress Black, indigenous, and other people of color who can get pregnant. Advocates have amplified awareness of the policy, legal, and cultural changes that will create real reproductive justice, while drawing clear connections between attacks on BIPOC political power and the loss of abortion rights.

It is no coincidence that as we make notable progress toward gender equity and the demands for racial justice grow louder, SCOTUS and elected officials are shoring up the footings of the country’s racist, patriarchal structures under the guise of being “pro-life”.

But a nation that treats women, trans/non-binary people, and BIPOC people as second-class citizens is not “pro-life”. In overturning Roe and Casey, SCOTUS has clearly signaled it values certain lives over others, that certain people’s bodily autonomy, physical wellbeing, economic stability, and future prospects matter more than others’.

This decision, sadly, only underlines the Court’s belief that some lives are more valuable than others. How ironic that they would release this decision under the pretense of protecting lives, when earlier this week they rolled back legislation in New York that limited the number of guns in public.

There is no economic justice without reproductive justice. There is no pursuit of freedom and equity without the right to fully own and make decisions about our own bodies. The Family Values @ Work Network is in solidarity with those working to secure our reproductive rights because these rights form a cornerstone of racial, gender, and economic justice. We will continue to build the movement for a society and economy in which all people have the rights and supports they need to thrive.

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Photo/Image usage via license from Big Stock/Shutterstock. Copyright: New Africa