On Monday, May 2, Politico released a draft opinion to the pending case of Dobbs v Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization, a case brought by the lone abortion clinic in Mississippi to challenge the state law banning abortion after 15 weeks. If this case rules in Dobb’s favor, Roe v. Wade precedent set forth in 1972 will be overturned on a federal level.
In the draft opinion, with a stacked, pro-life majority in the Supreme Court, the Court is deciding to overturn Roe v. Wade. Generation Ratify Amherst opposes this decision strongly, and we use this as a call to action in a reproductive rights crisis of our time. Generation Ratify Amherst is the local chapter of a national, youth-led organization working to enshrine legal gender equality into our Constitution and ensure reproductive rights for all.
Reproductive rights are intersectional with fundamental civil rights under the 14th Amendment and equality regardless of gender. By stripping away precedent set decades ago, by progressing backward, we are stripping away the rights and livelihoods of thousands of individuals. It is a person’s right to decide whether they can birth a child in this world, factoring their ability, circumstances and livelihood.
With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, we are stripping the rights away of the BIPOC community, the low income community, the LGBTQ+ community, and simply making abortion more dangerous and more deathly. Generation Ratify Amherst will not stand to watch us progress backward. We support reproductive rights for all, and demand Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization ruled in Jackson’s favor.
Marisol Pierce Bonifaz
Amherst
The writer is the founder and co-director of Generation Ratify Amherst.