Knowing this day was coming hasn’t made the news any easier to bear. WAVE was founded three weeks after the 2016 election because we knew a Trump presidency amounted to an attack on our values and ethics, including 50 years of precedent established by Roe v. Wade. The three justices he appointed are a tainted legacy of his corruption and part of a concerted, strategic strike against women and equality.
As of now, we assume abortion is immediately illegal in three states – South Dakota, Louisiana, and Kentucky. Another ten states with so-called “trigger laws” will need their state executive officers to certify that the Supreme Court’s decision does in fact overturn Roe, which can take up to 30 days. These states include Texas, Utah, and Idaho, among others (Politico, 6/24/22). In total, we expect that abortion could become illegal, with few exceptions for either the mother’s life or rape/incest, in approximately half of U.S. states.
As I stated in a May 3rd email to WAVE, in California, our legislature has enacted laws that protect reproductive justice and a right to an abortion (email below). Because of our strong laws, we anticipate an influx of women from other states seeking abortion care here.
Unfortunately, the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade is only one of a series of egregious decisions churned out by the Supreme Court this term. Other cases include: New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, in which the Court ruled that states with strict limits on carrying guns in public violate the Second Amendment; and Carson v. Makin, in which the Court ruled that a Maine program that excludes religious schools from a state tuition program is a violation of the free exercise of religion (NY Times, 6/21/22). We also note that in Justice Thomas’ concurring opinion in Dobbs, he stated that the Supreme Court should reconsider previous rulings that established the right to contraception, same-sex marriage, and protections for same-sex relationships (Rolling Stone, 6/24/22).
We need to continue to build power to fight back against those who seek to take away our rights. We need a clearer majority in the Senate to enact laws federally to protect rights at risk by the current Supreme Court.
At WAVE, we know most of you already vote, and likely encourage those you know to vote as well. We need to take it one step further. We need you to phone-bank, canvass, postcard, and text-bank to make sure voters who share our values turn out across the country.
We need to hold the House. We need to keep the Senate. Please sign up for shifts this summer to help us contact voters. We need all of you.