Dear Friends,
The Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and nearly 50 years of precedent protecting access to abortion will have a devastating impact on human rights for millions of people, particularly for Black people, people of color, immigrants, gender nonconforming and trans people, and women. This decision strips away rights that our elders have been defending for decades. The rights to care for our bodies, to decide whether or not to have children, and to care for our families are fundamental freedoms.
Already, too many people are struggling to pay their bills, retain affordable housing and childcare, and access to decent healthcare and good jobs. As civil rights leader Derecka Purnell stated, “If this was about babies, there would be universal healthcare. Free education. Free daycare. Southern states would be doing all they can to drop the Black maternal mortality rate. This is about power and control.” This ruling will lead to the criminalization of women and people of color in our communities, as well as the healthcare workers who provide reproductive and abortion care.
The Dobbs v. Jackson decision follows the Supreme Court’s radical rulings that have obstructed steps to prevent gun violence and taken away voting rights. The Court is controlled by corporations and white supremacist extremists who are waging a war on our communities – and who will stop at nothing to control our lives and uphold an economic system fixed on destroying our planet and our people.
As we continue to grieve this decision and its far-reaching impacts, we hold each other with care and compassion. Abortion rights and reproductive justice are fundamental human rights and are deeply intertwined with worker rights and racial justice. We stand in solidarity with organizations and individuals on the frontlines of fighting for abortion rights and we won’t back down.
In solidarity,
Kate O’Hara
Executive Director of EBASE