June 24, 2022
The news of this morning’s announcement from the US Supreme Court officially repealing Roe vs. Wade came as no shock to us. Nevertheless, we are still shocked and disheartened that a decision repealing the human rights of over half the population of one of the world’s G7 countries could be made by its own Supreme Court.
The repeal of Roe vs. Wade means that a pregnant person in the US in need of an abortion is at the mercy of the laws of their own state. Some states, like Louisiana have a trigger law, stating that the moment Roe vs. Wade was overturned abortions became not only inaccessible, but illegal. Other states have pre-existing laws banning abortions that were unenforceable due to Roe vs. Wade and now are potentially enforceable again.
We stand in solidarity with front line organizations and community members who are fighting for reproductive rights in states that have abortion bans or are expected to rapidly ban abortions. We stand in solidarity with the unions in the United States that are now fighting to negotiate access to reproductive rights in their collective agreements.
History tells us there is no way to ban abortions, only to ban safe abortions. People in need of reproductive services in many states will now face extreme risk and personal danger. This is simply outrageous.
We also recognize that we cannot ignore the impact of this decision in our own country and must collectively fight to protect continued access to safe, legal, and free abortions here in BC and Canada.
Abortion rights are human rights, and reproductive rights are everyone’s responsibility to uphold.
We stand with you.