“While we are relieved that today’s Court decision means abortion providers will still have their day in court, we are deeply disturbed by the lack of action from our nation’s highest arbiter of constitutional rights.
Thousands of people in Texas have been denied their full constitutional rights and an essential form of health care for the past 100 days. We know that abortion bans disproportionately harm those who already face systemic barriers to health care, whether it’s communities of color, young people, those struggling to make ends meet, people with disabilities, or LGBTQI people. The lack of respect for reproductive autonomy is especially harmful for women of color, who have long experienced racist and sexist stereotypes when trying to make the health care and family choices that make sense for them. ‚ÄØMoreover, the reduced access to health care that has resulted from the law’s implementation only exacerbates maternal health and other health disparities that disproportionately affect many women of color, especially Black women.
That Texas enacted this ban as the state continues to suffer from the disastrous effects of the COVID pandemic underlines the cruelty — but the cruelty is the point. The National Partnership has grave concerns that the Court has fallen short of its history of meeting its constitutional duty to protect our rights.
As Justice Sotomayor noted in her opinion today, ‘This Court has confronted State attempts to evade federal constitutional commands before, including schemes that forced parties to expose themselves to catastrophic liability as state-court defendants in order to assert their rights. Until today, the Court had proven equal to those challenges.’
The right to decide whether, when, and how to form a family remains essential, helping to ensure women have a pathway to education and economic opportunities, to health and well-being, and to the ability to thrive. We have defended that right for fifty years — and we will not back down now.”
