THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Statement by Julianna S. Gonen, NCLR Federal Policy Director:

"The LGBTQI+ community stands shoulder to shoulder with advocates in the reproductive health, rights, and justice movements, and all who cherish true liberty, in condemning this impending retrenchment around our fundamental rights. It is imperative that those with the privilege of holding public office use all tools available to them — legislative, administrative, financial, and other — to preserve and expand access to abortion care whenever and wherever possible.

Anyone who cares about personal freedom and gender equality should be rising up in opposition to what the United States Supreme Court seems poised to do: rule that our Constitution's guarantee of liberty is a hollow promise. If the Court overrules Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, allowing states to outlaw abortion, the fundamental right to bodily autonomy and the ability to determine one's own destiny will vary wildly depending on the state in which someone lives. While this patchwork has been present to some degree in the past, it will grow far worse as some states rush to pass new laws to make abortion inaccessible or outright illegal.

The loss of a recognized right to abortion is itself catastrophic. But let's be clear: even more is at stake. These state laws will prevent some people from ending a pregnancy and others from starting one, as the language in some of these statutes threatens access to assisted reproduction, as well as to abortion and contraception. And the legal rationale detailed in the leaked draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization could weaken other fundamental rights like sexual intimacy and marriage equality. The threat is real, it is multifaceted, and we must all join together to meet it head-on."

The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. Since its founding, NCLR has maintained a longstanding commitment to racial and economic justice and the LGBTQ community's most vulnerable. www.nclrights.org