In a cruel betrayal of the women of this country, and for the first time in the history of the Supreme Court and the United States, a fundamental constitutional right has been taken away. The opinion will have wide-ranging consequences not just for abortion access and women’s health—but for rights like access to contraception, infertility treatments and sexual privacy.
President Biden Condemns Supreme Court Decision: ‘This Is Not Over … Roe Is on the Ballot’
Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court released its opinion overturning constitutional abortion rights in Roe v. Wade, U.S. President Joseph Biden delivered scathing remarks condemning the decision and announced actions he will take to ensure abortion healthcare access for all Americans. In its sweeping decision, the Supreme Court eliminated 50 years of Supreme Court precedents.
“It’s a sad day for the Court and for the country,” said Biden. “The health and life of women of this nation are now at risk.”
The Fight for Abortion Rights in Post-Roe America
The Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is a devastating blow. What comes next?
Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade
On Friday, June 24, the United States Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for the right to abortion.
The sweeping decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturns Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey and leaves legal protections at risk for contraception, same-sex marriage and IVF. The decision has allowed abortion bans to go into effect in 18 states.
Senators Introduce Bill To Protect Reproductive Health Data: ‘My Body, My Data’
The digital surveillance threats to women’s reproductive health information are likely to escalate dramatically if the Supreme Court repeals abortion rights. U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Representative Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) introduced the My Body, My Data Act—a federal law protecting personal reproductive health data by minimizing the information that companies can collect and retain.
“Extreme Republicans across the country aren’t only trying to take away women’s constitutional rights, they want to actually put people in jail for providing or seeking reproductive care,” said Hirono. “This legislation will take steps to protect women’s privacy.”
The Importance of Talking About Women in the Fight Against Abortion Bans
The most powerful argument for abortion rights is to highlight the sex-based nature of these restrictions and argue that they violate equal rights. To succeed in arguing that sex equality requires the right to abortion, we need to be able to talk about how sex shapes access to abortion and how anti-abortion legislators target women with devastating consequences. The elimination of sex-based language in abortion politics makes this argument impossible, and reinforces the long-term right-wing strategy of suppressing information about sex-based disparities.
The Equal Rights Amendment Will Help Protect Abortion Rights
As the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the push to pass the ERA takes on new urgency as an avenue for shoring up women’s rights, especially our reproductive rights.
Polls show massive public support for the ERA. The vast majority of respondents—men and women; Republicans, Democrats and Independents—want the ERA, and most think the ERA is already a part of the Constitution.
Nationwide Campaign To Create an Abortion Sanctuary Network Starts in New York
Faced with the likely end of Roe v. Wade, reproductive rights advocates are seeking to create a nationwide sanctuary network for abortion services by passing interlocking legislation in blue states to ensure every American can safely access legal abortion services.
Celebrities and high-profile activists rally behind the Geraldine Santoro Act—named after Geraldine Santoro, who died from an unsafe abortion in 1964.
As We Mark the Anniversary of Title IX, I Regret I Never Met Toni Stone—The First Black Woman To Play Professional Baseball
As we mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX, landmark legislation that enabled girls and women to participate fully in interscholastic sports, I regret that I never met Toni Stone.
Unfamiliar with the name? I’m not surprised. Instead, my editors directed me to write articles about a white, San Francisco 49ers football player whose injuries they always deemed headline news. In a rarity for a 1980s Black woman reporter, I once interviewed, at home plate, then-Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. In hindsight, I would have gladly traded the experience for a chat with Toni Stone.
Title IX Reverberates Through Three Generations
When Title IX was passed 50 years ago this month, it helped girls gain access to spaces that they were not able to enter.
In my own family, Title IX changed the course of the lives of my activist grandmother, Silicon Valley executive aunt and my student-athlete cousin.