Supreme Court’s right-wing supermajority is determined to enforce their extreme, unpopular, and dangerous views over the will of the people
SAN LUIS OBISPO – SLOCDP released the following statement on Friday, June 24, in response to the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade:
Every human being deserves the freedom to make their own decisions about their body, their family, and their future without political interference. The Supreme Court’s callous and misguided decision to eliminate that freedom by overturning Roe v. Wade is devastating for everyone who cares about individual rights and the health of millions of women – especially the Black people, people of color, and poor people who will be hit hardest by draconian abortion bans.
The simple fact is that the majority of Americans do not agree with the extremists who have taken over courts. The Supreme Court’s current supermajority was forced upon us by Republican senators who represent a minority of Americans after they stole a court seat from our nation’s first Black president. They are determined to enforce their dangerous views over the will of the people. They have already signaled their intent to roll back other landmark civil rights decisions from contraception access to protections for same-sex and even interracial marriages.
Today’s ruling lays bare the stark reality of this moment: a minority political movement of white nationalist theocrats are working to redefine who has rights in this country, whose voices count, and who belongs. In recent years, this ideology — which seeks to build a country only for themselves — has been fueling violence against LGBTQ people and trans communities, banning books and the teaching of history, undermining free and fair elections, and fomenting mass shootings targeting Black people, Jewish people, immigrants, and Latinx people.
Right here in SLO County we can see that same movement threatening local elections officials, attacking our voting rights, attempting to restrict the history our children can learn in school, and criminalizing marginalized people who try to speak out and protest against their abuse.
But together we are strong, and we have faith that justice will ultimately prevail. We must continue to fight for power in our state and local legislatures, at the ballot box, and in the streets to protect our rights and freedoms. We have the popular will and we have our love for each other. Together we will shut down this machinery of division and fear, and build a country where all of us – all religions, colors, genders – are safe, free, and able to thrive.