NARAL Calls Supreme Court Draft
Opinion on Roe v. Wade
Shocking, Without Precedent
(NARAL) - 5/4/2022 - Following reports that a majority of Supreme Court justices are planning to strike down Roe v. Wade and allow states to ban abortion in the coming months, NARAL Pro-Choice America Mini Timmaraju released the following statement:
“This is the most ominous and alarming sign yet that our nation’s highest court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to abortion as we know it and ripping away our freedom to decide if, when, and how to raise our families. While this is a draft opinion and abortion is still legal, we need to brace for a future where more and more people are punished and criminalized for seeking and providing abortion care. Now more than ever, we must support those working to provide abortion care and elect champions who will relentlessly fight for reproductive freedom and take bold action to safeguard abortion rights.”
The court's shocking and unprecedented leak follows multiple other signals that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case that recognized the constitutional right to abortion. Meanwhile, abortion care is already almost entirely out of reach in Texas because a vigilante-enforced law banning abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy rendered Roe meaningless in the state. Other states are clamoring to follow Texas’ lead even before the Supreme Court announces its opinion in the Jackson Women’s Health case.
Should Roe fall, 28 states are poised to take action to prohibit abortion outright. Of those, 13 states already have “trigger bans” in place, which would ban abortion automatically if Roe is overturned. These bans and attacks on abortion access fall hardest on those most marginalized, including people of color, LGBTQ people, people with low incomes, and those in rural communities.