Issued June 24, 2022
WASHINGTON – SEIU President Mary Kay Henry issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling today in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
“We are angered and disgusted by today’s Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. Joining hands with Republican politicians, the extremist majority of the court has taken away women’s fundamental right to abortion, sending us back 50 years. This reckless decision is yet another example of the nation’s highest court jettisoning its own precedent to cater to powerful right-wing and corporate interests while rolling back the rights of working people.
As a direct result of this ruling, more women will be forced to choose between paying their rent or traveling long distances to receive safe abortion care. Working women are already struggling in poverty-wage jobs without paid leave and many are also shouldering the caregiving responsibilities for their families, typically unpaid. This radical decision will impact all of us, especially those who already face barriers to accessing health care because of structural racism, sexism and corporate greed. Without the ability to determine whether and when to have children, essential workers serving their communities as child care providers, home care workers, health care workers, janitors and fast food workers can’t hope to join the middle class.
Right-wing politicians claim to support families, but they have taken every opportunity to undermine the progress made by working women and mothers, whether it’s taking away our reproductive freedom or failing to invest in child care and home and community care. SEIU’s 2 million members stand with our partners in the reproductive justice movement, with clinic workers who continue to provide essential services and with the people who need their care. We will keep fighting. This ruling is further motivation for working people to vote in record numbers at the midterms and elect leaders who will defend the rights of working women and all of us.”