This is a statement by the Safe Abortion Advocacy Initiative Global South Engagement (SAIGE) regarding the US Supreme Court decision overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade judgment that legalised abortion in the US. Download the full statement here.
The U.S. Supreme Court effectively revoked the constitutional right to abortion on Friday through its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, putting the U.S. alongside Poland, El Salvador, and Nicaragua as the only nations to backtrack on or restrict abortion policy in decades. The decision is a major blow to the reproductive rights movements across the globe and will embolden the anti-rights and anti-abortion groups worldwide. This judgement will have consequences globally, such as hurting local efforts around expanding sexual and reproductive health and rights, limiting funding, and exacerbating stigma.
We should not forget that constricting abortions does not reduce the number of abortions, it only makes it unsafe. “Lack of access to safe abortion care is one of the leading causes of preventable maternal death and disability. Each year, 47,000 women in the world die as a result of unsafe abortion and an estimated 5 million are hospitalised for the treatment of serious complications such as bleeding or infection.” Abortion bans are designed to control people’s bodies, reproductive freedom, and their future. They disproportionately harm the most marginalised and vulnerable and are a violation of a person’s human rights and bodily autonomy.
SAIGE strongly condemns the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe Vs Wade which is the most violent embodiment of systemic racism, sexism and oppression. The most effective protection against state abortion bans is a federal law which would precede the states. We urge the Biden administration to uphold the reproductive rights of individuals through passing an iron clad federal law that legalises safe abortion across states and restores the reproductive rights of individuals.
Right to Safe Abortion is a human right and no pregnant person should be denied of this!