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WASHINGTON– Today, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court dismantling Roe v. Wade along with decades-long legal precedent that protected the right to receive an abortion, Damon Hewitt, President and Executive Director for the Lawyers’ Committee For Civil Rights Under Law released the following statement:

“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, overturning Roe v. Wade and 50 years of precedent, is nothing short of devastating. Access to abortions is deeply intertwined with racial and economic justice due to barriers to health care. This decision is a huge setback for racial justice and gender justice, overall. 

“Moreover, any equivalence of Roe v. Wade with the abjectly racist decision in Plessy v. Ferguson lacks both a logical foundation and a moral compass. Dismantling fundamental rights is not the same as protecting such rights. Nothing in today’s decision can convince us otherwise.

“In this new era of forced births, the stakes are the highest for Black women, who are three times more likely to die from becoming pregnant and are more likely to attain higher education and advance in the labor market with greater access to abortions. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is deeply committed to the work of racial and economic justice, and that includes protecting the right to reproductive autonomy.”