FiLiA Statement on the Overturning of Roe v Wade
The news that Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court decision which protected women's right to privacy when it comes to abortion matters, has been overturned represents a shock to the international feminist movement and is a deeply distressing time for the majority of women in the United States. Far from uniform, the effect of this reversal will be most deeply felt by working-class women and women from marginalised communities who simply cannot afford to travel across states to get the health care they need. This unprecedented restriction on women's reproductive health is not only a sex class issue, but a race and class one too. At FiLiA, we are appalled at the position too many women have been put in.
For the past 50 years, women in the United States trusted their right to make decisions about their bodies was settled and protected by this Supreme Court decision, even as individual states made restrictions against it. Even though anti-women campaigners had lobbied and campaigned hard to restrict women's reproductive rights in individual states, the previous situation brought some comfort and hope to the women whose health was on the line. By overturning Roe v Wade to deprive half the population of these protections, the United States has taken a monumental step backward in the advancement of women's rights.
The consequences of this reversal will be both long-term and far-reaching. It will negatively impact women's economic security, force them to have children against their will and bring them up in poverty, curtail their employment opportunities and general quality of life. Women's rights should not be left at the whim of a handful of men driven by ideological agendas. FiLiA supports our US sisters in their fight to protect all reproductive rights by codifying the objectives of Roe v Wade into federal legislation. We also support them in their fight to enshrine similarly important protections for women and girls into law moving forward.