A message regarding Roe v. Wade from YW Boston
?Earlier today, people across the United States lost the right to make decisions about their future that deeply impact their lives and wellness when the Supreme Court voted to overturn?Roe v. Wade. This 1973 ruling guaranteed federal constitutional protections for abortion rights. Today’s news follow a draft decision document that signaled this outcome which leaked earlier this year on May 2nd.
The Supreme Court ruled that people have a right to an abortion nearly 50 years ago. Since that ruling, abortion rights activists have been hard at work to ensure continued, and improved, access to abortion and reproductive healthcare for all people across the United States. The ability to choose when, and if, to have a child is a profound choice with lasting consequences that every person should be able to make for themselves. There is no question that this is a cause we should all rally behind.
In addition to its impact on the individual, abortion access also has far-reaching socio-economic consequences. And because of its?intersection?with gender, race, class, and many other?social identities, supporting abortion access is critical to YW Boston’s mission of eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. It is unacceptable for a country that claims to value personal freedoms and individual autonomy to deny millions of Americans the right to make choices about their future, wellness, and livelihood.?
Why losing legal access to abortion is a?national crisis
Abortion access is essential to social justice, gender, and racial equity. Studies show that abortion access impacts financial security, earning potential, labor force participation, career opportunities, and educational attainment of those seeking abortions.
?As the Boston Globe?recently summarized, overturning?Roe v. Wade?would set back years of economic and social progress for women and would negatively impact the economy as a whole. “Existing state abortion restrictions already cost the economy an estimated $105 billion a year by, among other things, reducing the number of women who are working, according to a study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, a nonprofit advocacy group.”
?Legal access to abortion?increases women’s probability of graduating college by 72%.?The effect was even larger for Black women, whose chances of completing college increased two- or three-fold. Delaying motherhood by one year due to access to legal abortion?increases women’s wages by 11%. Abortion legalization also?reduced Black maternal mortality by 30 to 40%?by increasing access to safe and affordable procedures. And this matter does not only pertain to the hardships that can arise from unwanted pregnancy. Legal abortion access also?decreases?the percentage of children who grow up in poverty. This statistic is especially important considering that many states with restrictive abortion regulations claim they seek to restrict abortions to protect the “sanctity of life” — while also exhibiting inadequate social services and higher childhood poverty rates. (A Public Health Paradox: States with Strictest Abortion Laws Have Weakest Maternal and Child Health Outcomes.)
?Although the importance of safe abortion access has been thoroughly documented, legal access to abortion in the United States is currently at great risk, and in turn, so is the well-being of millions of people across the country now that?Roe v. Wade?has been overturned. Now that the Supreme Court ruled in the case concerning Mississippi’s 15-week ban, effectively overturning?Roe vs. Wade, other states across the United States are poised to follow with abortion restrictions. As many as?26 states?could ban abortion outright.
What does this mean for people in?Massachusetts??
Although?Roe v. Wade?has been overturned, Massachusetts still allows abortions. In 1981, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled the state Constitution provides an even stronger right to abortion than the U.S. Constitution. In 2020, the state Legislature affirmed and expanded that right by passing what is known as the?Roe?Act which allows people in certain cases (such as fatal fetal anomaly or that of a dangerous pregnancy) to have an abortion even after 24 weeks and allows minors between the ages of 16-18 years of age to have an abortion without parental permission. Abortion pills are also available in Massachusetts for those up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy.
What can we do to?support legal abortion access??
Even under?Roe v. Wade, abortion access remained inconsistent and inequitable as a result of varying state restrictions and other socio-economic barriers to abortion. In fact, over the past 50 years,?almost all of the more than 1,300 restrictions on abortion have been enacted by states, not the federal government. Those seeking legal abortions faced a number of undue burdens such as age restrictions, waiting periods, lack of nearby providers, ongoing stigma, harassment at clinics, and more. As YWCA USA has poignantly summarized:?
“Every person experiencing pregnancy deserves to be protected, to receive accurate, unbiased medical information so they can make the best medical decisions for themselves, and to make decisions about whether to continue a pregnancy or to access abortion care. Punitive abortion bans disproportionately affect women of color, LGBTQ persons, young women, immigrants, low-income people, and others who have difficulty accessing reproductive health services.”?
Five things you can do?right now:
1. Learn and Share
Abortion access is a complicated legislative issue, but the purpose behind the ban on abortion is not – it’s about control and a lack human rights.
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2. Donate
Many amazing organizations have dedicated their mission to advancing equity in health. Be sure to do your research, there are many funds in Massachusetts you can work with such as?Planned Parenthood MA?or?NARAL Pro-Choice. Or, if you’d like to pay for women in other states that have to travel for health equity?this is a link?to the National Network of Abortion Funds or?the Brigid Alliance?which helps connect women to states where they can achieve health equity.??
Other organizations to donate to:
3. Know and Support
If you yourself are in need of an abortion but don’t know how or where to do so.?Research your local women’s health clinic?and read about the laws in your city and state. Reach out to organizations that support women’s rights and health equity like those listed.?The Brigid Alliance?helps women find access to care. Consider enrolling in counseling, read journals and stories to prepare yourself. Know that you are not alone.
If you or anyone you know needs assistance self-managing a miscarriage or abortion, please call the?Miscarriage + Abortion Hotline?at (833) 246-2632 for confidential medical support or the?Repro Legal Helpline?at (844) 868-2812 for confidential legal information and advice (source:?ARD).
Other places of help:
4. Sign up and Show up
5. Vote and Advocate
In solidarity,
Beth
Committed teacher, leader of life-long learning, lover of reading and writing
2 年This is why I miss working with you. Love and appreciate your leadership.
Beth, as usual, a thoughtful statement, but not stopping there. Very practical advice and places to go to become informed, support, advocate. Great leadership on your part, thank you!
Think about it.......The novelty of prosecuting men for abortion — despite the sound legal footing of such charges — tells us something important about the way we have, until now, framed the debate. Boys will be boys, but women who get pregnant have behaved irresponsibly. ?? why should the culprit causing this scenario go free from any responsibility ???
Senior Vice President, Employee Benefits Advisor
2 年Well said and well done. Information is power. Thank you Beth!
Strategic advisor to innovative entrepreneurs and mid-cap companies. Creative, compassionate leader with extensive volunteer board director experience and deep commitment to giving back to my communities.
2 年Well said Beth. The facts matter in this emotional time. We have so much work to do. Thank you for your leadership.