June 24th, 2022

Today, the United States Supreme Court issued a majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that eliminates the constitutional right to abortion established nearly 50 years ago in Roe v. Wade. While this decision was forecasted in advance, it is nevertheless shocking and deeply frightening: in 2022, the highest court in the country has gutted federal protections for bodily autonomy.

Statement from Former Congressman Henry Waxman, Chairman of Waxman Strategies

“Abortion is health care. All people deserve access to the care they need to protect their health, exercise full autonomy over their bodies, and build the futures they dream of. All health care decisions must be between a patient and their health care provider; no one else – including the government – has a right to a say over that.”

It is important to acknowledge today that, while Roe guaranteed the right to abortion, it never guaranteed access. People living in states controlled by lawmakers opposed to reproductive rights faced incredible hurdles to accessing safe, legal abortion even while Roe stood. These existing and ever-multiplying state attacks on reproductive autonomy – along with today’s decision – most harm the same people who are all too often let down or discriminated against by our health care system and society at large – people of color, people with low incomes, LGBTQ+ people, indigenous communities, and people living in rural areas.

On this dark day, Waxman Strategies commits to listening to, learning from, and acting alongside the communities most harmed by this decision and the countless state attacks on reproductive autonomy that have already occurred or will in the days ahead.