Immigration Equality Decries Supreme Court Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade
New York, NY (June 24, 2022) – In response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturns Roe v. Wade, Immigration Equality issued the following statement:
“We are appalled by the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the federal right to have an abortion. The opinion turns back the clock half a century for millions, forcing many into pregnancy, or into unsafe abortion methods that carry the risk of injury or death. The decision interprets our Constitution to mean that we don’t have the right to make even the most intimate, personal decisions about our own bodies. The ramifications of the Supreme Court’s decision are massive.
“We march arm in arm with the reproductive rights and justice movements in the fight to defend our rights. Privacy and bodily autonomy are foundational to who we are and how we live. For LGBTQ people, these rights touch many aspects of our lives: how we express our gender identity; who we can be intimate with; and how we, too, can access reproductive health care. During moments like these, our struggles become even more intertwined. We will mourn our losses and celebrate our wins together. And we will fight like hell to protect our rights.”
Statement on May 2022 Draft Decision:
Immigration Equality Decries Draft Supreme Court Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade
New York, NY (May 5, 2022) – In response to the draft majority decision from the U.S. Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade, Immigration Equality issued the following statement:
“The Supreme Court’s draft decision portends a bleak future in the United States, where people of all genders who do not want to be pregnant lose their federally recognized right to have an abortion. Overturning Roe v. Wade would turn back the clock half a century for millions of people, back to when ending a pregnancy required risking injury or death. Such an opinion, were it to remain unchanged, would interpret our Constitution to mean that we don’t have the right to make decisions about our own bodies.
“It is very difficult to overstate what’s at stake in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In his draft decision, Justice Alito rejects Roe v. Wade altogether. He fails to recognize the rights of privacy and autonomy, claiming that the only rights we have are those literally spelled out in the Constitution. This interpretation is in stark contrast to decades of Supreme Court decisions that hold these rights as part of the fundamental structure and spirit of the Constitution. By Justice Alito’s logic, bans on marriages of same-sex couples that were stuck down in Obergefell v. Hodges could become legal again. Even archaic laws criminalizing consensual intimacy for same-sex couples, ruled unconstitutional in Lawrence v. Texas, could be resurrected. The ramifications of Alito’s draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade are massive.
“We march arm in arm with the reproductive rights and justice movements in the fight to defend our rights. Privacy and bodily autonomy are foundational to who we are and how we live. For LGBTQ people, these rights touch many aspects of our lives: how we express our gender identity; who we can be intimate with; and how we, too, can access reproductive health care. During moments like these, our struggles become even more intertwined. We will mourn our losses and celebrate our wins together. And we will fight like hell to protect our rights.”