US Supreme Court Remarks on the Second Anniversary of the Repeal of Roe v Wade

This week marked the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision that overturned the US Constitutional right to an abortion. In addition, today the Supreme Court temporarily allowed abortions in Idaho for medical emergencies, in a 6-3 opinion. Abortion rights, along with reproductive health and rights are expected to be the hot topics during tonight’s Presidential debate between President Biden and Donald Trump.

Reproductive health and rights are top of mind for Americans across the US and, given the outsized influence the US has on global reproductive health, the world is also watching.  What happens in the US has direct and reverberating implications for reproductive rights and freedoms abroad.

On Monday, June 24, PAI stood alongside fellow sexual and reproductive health and rights advocates and shared remarks reinforcing our movement’s progress, what is at stake and the impact of the US anti-rights opposition globally.

During her remarks at the steps of the US Supreme Court, Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins, PAI’s President & CEO stated:

“Although the majority of countries around the world have expanded reproductive rights – by the way, the United States is among only a handful of countries that has regressed –  there still exists a deliberate strategy to derail progress that is being implemented globally, and is fueled by US-based anti-rights rhetoric, ideology and funding.  It is being exported by the very same contingent that we are battling in our own country.  And they are relentless – spreading lies through pregnancy crisis centers across Africa and Latin America, influencing global politics and policies through the power of their purse and launching campaigns that stigmatize reproductive health and rights and more.

 We know – because we believe in science and data – that among the leading causes of preventable deaths and harm in women globally is due to unsafe abortions.  We know that when people do not have access to reproductive health care, their opportunities to achieve are diminished.  When sexual and reproductive health and rights are attacked, democracy is weakened.”

She also noted that we have not and will not be defeated, saying that we stand strong and stand with and for each other.  Watch Nabeeha’s full remarks here.