DC Abortion Fund Responds to SCOTUS Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade
The DC Abortion Fund today expressed its deep outrage and disappointment with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that has overturned Roe v. Wade, decimating the right to abortion across the country. Like many in our work, we are not surprised by this decision; however, we are angry and disheartened.This decision will activate trigger laws in 13 states, banning abortion immediately or within several weeks for millions of people. Patients across the country currently face significant social, economic, and logistical barriers to accessing abortion services, and this ruling will only increase those barriers, forcing countless patients to travel across state lines to get their procedures and making care even more difficult to obtain. We expect that many other states will now seek to pass abortion bans like Mississippi’s 15-week ban.While Roe v. Wade was critical to ensuring the legality of abortion across the country, it did not guarantee access to abortion for all. Wealthy white women were not burdened by difficulty in accessing abortions before Roe, and they will not be burdened by it after Roe. Instead, communities already facing barriers to healthcare access – particularly Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, people with disabilities, transgender people, people in rural areas, young people, undocumented people, and people with low incomes – will be disproportionately affected. Abortion funds like DCAF have always believed that Roe was the floor – it was never sufficient to ensure safe, accessible abortions for all. Abortion funds were created to bridge that gap for patients.Today, the systems of oppression that deny Black, Indigenous, and other people of color their rights worked exactly as they were designed. Abortion bans are rooted in anti-Black racism, white supremacy, and other forms of discrimination.Although the protections of Roe v. Wade are gone, DCAF will continue our work to build a world beyond Roe where access is a reality for all, regardless of race, zip code, or income. Funds have been leading the way and will continue to do so as we navigate these anti-abortion threats together. We will continue to do what we have always done for over 26 years: fund abortions. Our mission and our vision will never change.DCAF is still here. We will remain here.
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