Reproductive Equity

GBYD Board of Director’s Statement on Dobbs

The Supreme Court’s decision to overrule Roe vs. Wade is a demonstration of the conservative movement’s commitment to willfully disregard legal precedent and legislate from the bench when doing so achieves their desired ends. The decision–as it drags us backwards in time and guarantees that guns have greater protections than women–is an unmistakable shame which our country will long suffer­. This decision ominously demonstrates that the Court is more than willing to wield its power blatantly and unrestrained to achieve partisan ends. This attack on a woman’s right to choose, as part of a long term effort to erode constitutional protections, is as cruel as it is dangerous.

With reproductive rights under assault throughout the county–with some states having already banned access to abortion outright–we are thankful that abortion is still legal in Massachusetts. We are also grateful for the protections the Massachusetts legislature has guaranteed through the ROE Act. We believe ourselves duty bound to help those whose state governments seek to carve out a second-class citizen status for anyone who can get pregnant.

We are appalled. We are heartbroken. We are outraged. But we will not be deterred.

As conservatives fight to strip away the constitutional rights that have slowly but surely made ours a more perfect union, we are determined to organize, to mobilize, and to rally together with the understanding that lives literally depend on it. It is readily apparent from Justice Thomas’ concurring opinion that the attacks on bodily privacy are far from over, and in fact are just beginning.

We must volunteer, we must advocate, we must vote–and we will. In some states the right to choose will be on the ballot via referendum, in others it will be determined by who voters choose to elect to office. Now more than ever, it is important to be informed how legislation protects access to reproductive care and to organize accordingly. Women’s rights are meant to protect all women, regardless of their situation or background.

We will approach this moment with an unrelenting determination to ensure reproductive rights are neither optional nor threatened.

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