FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Today the Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments in, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, in which the Center for Reproductive Rights is challenging a ban on abortion at 15 weeks of pregnancy. The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi has issued the followed statement:
“The Supreme Court will make the most important reproductive-related decision in decades in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Polling shows many Mississippians believe that abortions should be legal, especially for those who have been victims of rape or incest. Nonetheless Attorney General Lynn Fitch is leading a charge against a person’s right to make a decision about their own body by asking the Court to overturn the longstanding Roe v. Wade ruling.
This is not only about Mississippi. If the Court overturns Roe, over half the states in the U.S. are poised to pass sweeping legislation making abortion illegal, inaccessible and unsafe. The Supreme Court has already failed to block a Texas law that bans abortions at 6 weeks, and more attacks are on the horizon.
Make no mistake, for years anti-abortion politicians have been plotting this moment, creating legal roadblocks and trigger laws to put abortion out of reach. From its inception, the 15-week abortion ban was a stepping stone to ban access entirely. The legislature held no hearings and heard from no experts on viability or the potential impact to pregnant individuals.
What’s important to remember today is that legal abortion is an overwhelmingly safe procedure. Abortions won’t stop if they become illegal. Unfortunately, it will only become less safe for those who will desperately still seek the option, creating an even larger divide between accessible healthcare and people who already face discriminatory barriers: people of color, the LGBTQI+ community, immigrants, young people, those working to make ends meet and people with disabilities.
The future we want to see is one that safeguards abortion care as a part of the reproductive health care people need, upholds basic rights and justice, and respects our decision-making.”
