Sitting in a Denver hotel lounge enjoying the company of my colleagues after two years of isolation, Zoom meetings, and COVID anxiety, my phone is blowing up with messages. There is a leaked opinion document with a majority vote that will overturn Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood, essentially eliminating all federal abortion protection. It takes my brain a few seconds to process these messages before I feel like I was punched in the chest. All the air is sucked out of my body and I fight to hold back a torrent of tears. While I am not surprised, the sadness and anger are instantly overwhelming.
In December, I listened intently to the oral arguments of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization before the United States Supreme Court. Prior to joining Health Outreach Partners, I had a long career in reproductive health care and equitable access to abortion has been the force that had driven my work for 30 years. Fighting for the rights provided by Roe v. Wade ebbed and flowed over the years based on the political ideology in power at the time. As divisive as this issue has been and as many close calls as we faced, Roe has been the law of the land for almost 50 years, and that has given me a feeling of stability and security. This time I felt different. I had a knot in my chest as I listened to the case, especially the questions asked by Justices Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Coney-Barrett. These questions were aimed at abortion overall and strayed from the original question at hand in Dobbs, the constitutionality of the 2018 Mississippi state law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Mississippi was asking the court to overturn both Roe and Casey and therefore invalidate all federal abortion protections. I told anyone who would listen later that day that I believed come June the court would do just that. There had been a shift away from the usual politics that surround abortion, the risk of losing Roe and Casey felt real. Now sitting there in a Denver bar, the reality of those fears was coming to fruition. (My tears did eventually flow uncontrollably as soon as I got back to my hotel room.)
This ruling, should it be officially released by the court will do unprecedented harm to millions of people, the majority of whom are from under-resourced and vulnerable populations. This opinion seeks to further erode any progress made to advance health equity. This ruling does the greatest harm to people who identify as BIPOC, living in poverty, and from rural areas. In reality, the reproductive health movement is a movement steeped in racism, culminating in this moment, potentially criminalizing abortion care in 26 states. Health Outreach Partners believes all people are valued and equal access to quality health care is a right, available to everyone. Our programs center around health equity and address wellness with a structurally competent lens. We denounce this attempt to further policies that perpetuate structural racism.
The injustice and indignity of this ruling will continue to inflict harm, forcing many to seek unsafe alternatives to the health care that should be private between them and their medical team. It will further limit their access to abortion care, as many will not have the resources to travel to another state to receive an abortion, let alone be able to take time off from work or have support to care for their children while they seek care. Many will be forced to continue a pregnancy, while services for families that support childcare, education, housing, food security, and medical care also are further being eroded by the same political advocates that claim to support “family values.”
This is the tip of the iceberg. It will not stop with overturning Roe. Many of the fundamental rights we take for granted will be at risk, and overturning Roe v. Wade is on the slippery slope of our decline in democracy. The anti-abortion proponents are working toward a nationwide abortion ban. This opinion, should it be adopted emboldens them and their actions. Polls across the nation show that the majority of Americans support legal abortion and do not support overturning of Roe v. Wade, regardless of their personal views on abortion. Our elected officials are not upholding their duty to support their constituents. The agenda of a minority, for greed and power, are being advanced at the detriment of a nation. In some respects, the leaking of this document is a gift, the gift of time to mobilize and fight for the basic rights of bodily autonomy. This is a call to action, a time to cry and be angry but to funnel this energy into real change. We must get out and VOTE. Local and midterm elections are equally and often times more important than presidential races. Every single member of Congress that does not support the freedom of all people to receive equitable health care and the privacy to decide on what is best for their bodies must be voted out of office. It is time to take a stand against centuries of health care policy that has been rooted in racism and protect the rights that Roe has afforded for the last 49 years. Abortion care is health care and we have a duty to protect it now and improve access and opportunity for all. If you are wondering how to support abortion in your own way, please check out the link below.
Link: How to Show Up for Abortion Access
With gratitude- Cindy
