Press Release
SCOTUS Ruling Overturning Roe Will Harm Low-income Women
The U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade marks an appalling return to times we thought we would never see again, where women have no right to choose what happens to their own bodies. We could see this coming: with every appointment to the high court by former President Trump, who unapologetically promised to seat only justices who opposed a woman’s right to choose, the right of women to retain control over their bodies was slipping away.
But the fact that this decision does not come as a surprise does not blunt the impact. The Court’s ruling will be especially harmful for low-income women of color who may lack access to decent healthcare, paid maternity leave, or the income and time it takes to support a child. It is not surprising that studies indicate a woman’s odds of living in poverty are increased substantially after being forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy. Because of their gender and the privilege it and their position affords, the authors of today’s decision and their families will never know such a burden.
For women, and in fact for all of us, this does not feel like a safe time to live in the United States. Today’s appalling decision comes on the heels of yesterday’s ruling overturning New York’s gun permitting law. Both decisions were supported by Trump appointees and featured searing dissents by the Court’s small “liberal faction.”
It is now up to the states to protect people. Legislating around these shocking rulings will be a massive effort, and one that may have mixed results. But if nothing is done, people will be able to carry weapons out in the open – on the streets, in subways, at concerts and sporting events, among many other places. And women will be forced to go through unwanted pregnancies at terrible risk to themselves and their families. We will stand with our state legislators in doing all they can to right these wrongs.