On Saturday, rallies in every state and in Washington, D.C., will sound the alarm against attacks on women’s reproductive rights. The rallies are taking place before the Supreme Court reconvenes on Oct. 4, and will not only spotlight the dire threat to women’s reproductive rights but also draw the connection between those rights, civil rights and economic rights.
Recently, the Supreme Court failed to stop a Texas law that severely curtails a woman’s right to abortion access. The law goes so far as to allow any citizen to sue everyone involved in helping someone get an abortion – even a driver taking someone to a clinic – essentially legalizing bounty hunting.
This term, the court is scheduled to hear arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which threatens to toss out longstanding law on women’s privacy and health care decisions. The case involves Mississippi’s unconstitutional ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
AFSCME joined other labor and civil rights organizations in signing on to a brief in the Dobbs case, calling on the nation’s highest court to uphold its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Signing the amicus brief in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health represents a long and important commitment by AFSCME members: This union will always stand up for the rights of working people everywhere, no matter how they are threatened.
Saturday’s rallies are being organized by the Women’s March, whose mission includes ending violence, promoting reproductive rights and fostering the rights of LGBTQIA people, workers, immigrants and others.
