In response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, National Community Reinvestment Coalition President and CEO Jesse Van Tol on Friday issued the following statement:
The Supreme Court’s decision to strip away the constitutional right to an abortion not only undermines almost 50 years of Supreme Court precedents, but it is also an attack on lower- and moderate-income people and people of color. The Court’s action does not reflect the views of a significant majority of the American public and unravels the careful balance in the law of reproductive rights and viability.
But while the people know this Court operates in uncharted political waters, that doesn’t change the pain and harm that this decision will cause. We know that pregnant people who have the financial means to do so, will still be able to get abortions, and those who lack such resources will not. We know those forced to shoulder the enormous costs of birth and parenthood will receive little if any meaningful support from their government – and thus, see generations of family wealth-building progress derailed by this cruel and undemocratic ruling. We know reproductive health is already riddled with disparities and this decision will only worsen health inequities for people and communities of color. We know that the destruction of Roe means renewed economic and social repression for hundreds of millions of our fellow citizens. We also know that this decision could very well be the beginning of the end of other basic civil and human rights.
Those who authored this cruel decision do not represent who we are as a people or where we should be as a society, so the rest of us must continue to fight at both the federal and state level to restore reproductive freedoms.
