Gynuity Health Projects Strongly Condemns the Supreme Court’s Decision to Withdraw Federal Protection for Abortion in the U.S.

Today, the Supreme Court overturned 49 years of legal precedent regarding abortion in the U.S. The decision to quash Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed federal constitutional protection for abortion, makes pregnancy more dangerous and jeopardizes the health and well-being of half of the population.

Gynuity Health Projects strongly condemns the decision, which undermines rights and access to medical care in large parts of the country.

In a majority Opinion, the court declared that the “Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.”

With this ruling, the country’s highest court has opened the door for state legislatures to implement further unnecessary restrictions and abortion bans without a federal standard. More than a dozen states have trigger laws, which means that a ban on abortion under most circumstances will soon come into effect across large swaths of southern and north-central U.S.

The impact of legislation that denies reproductive freedom and limits access to essential reproductive care is profound and will fall heavily on people who already face discriminatory barriers to health care.

We share a vision with others to see that high quality abortion care is available, affordable, accessible, and stigma-free for everyone - no matter their circumstances or location. We welcome the actions already taken by some states to enact laws that strengthen and protect abortion care.

Gynuity Health Projects will continue to think creatively, examining and promoting methods, including safe and effective self-managed options, to ensure access, drive down cost, and improve experience for anyone in need of an abortion.

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Background

In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court was tasked with considering whether a 2018 Mississippi law that banned most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy was constitutional. Through this case, Mississippi directly challenged two landmark Supreme Court decisions regarding abortion: first, Roe v. Wade (1973) which recognized a person’s right to choose to have an abortion without state interference during the first trimester of pregnancy; and second, Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) which granted states some authority to impose various abortion restrictions so long as they did not create an undue burden on people’s access to care.