Statement from the Women’s Center Staff
Regarding the Supreme Court’s Decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org.
On Friday June 24th the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that protected a pregnant person’s right to end their pregnancy through abortion. This decision will have immediate and long-lasting consequences for millions of women. It will disproportionately impact poor women, who cannot afford to travel to places where abortion is legal. It will disproportionately impact Black women and other women of color, who are more likely to die in childbirth than White women. It will disproportionately impact women who are limited in the ways that they can travel, who are undocumented or who are in abusive and otherwise restrictive home environments. It will disproportionately impact women in states that move to quickly ban abortion. The decision reached by the Supreme Court on Friday makes the lives of many women more difficult and more dangerous. As is evidenced by Justice Thomas’s opinion, the decision may not stop with reproductive healthcare rights but could support the court in reconsidering previous rulings on marriage and contraception.
Abortion is still legal in the State of North Carolina. The Wake Forest University Women’s Center will continue to support and affirm an individual’s right to privacy and body autonomy. We are here to support you as you navigate what this news means for you and your loved ones. We are also feeling the impact of this decision. Like many of you, we spent the weekend comforting friends who have had abortions, reliving sexual assault, and mourning another loss to body autonomy. But, we found comfort in the words of Prentiss Hemphill: “All I can say now is feel it. When you can and with others, face the fear of this unknown, this timeline unfolding. Shake and despair. And when you can, remember that we each and together are powerful, our commitment makes us more so. Our strategy is the path. Our action, our love.”
You are always welcome in the Women’s Center. We are located on the 3rd floor of Benson in 314, between the LGBTQ+ Center and the Chaplain’s Office. Our work to unpack and respond to the loss of Roe will continue over the course of the next year and beyond. Local organizers in Winston-Salem are hosting a march and rally on Sunday July 3rd in Downtown. The Women’s Center will host a drop-in space on Thursday from 12-3pm and will be present for the march on Sunday. If you’d like to meet up with us or want information about carpooling, please complete this form. We will move forward together. Join us.