29 Jun PINSAN Statement on the overturning of Roe v. Wade
Philippine Safe Abortion Advocacy Network (PINSAN) joins the global condemnation of the recent United States Supreme Court ruling denying women’s access to safe abortions.
In its decision on the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, the United States Supreme Court ruled that there is no federal constitutional right to abortion, effectively overturning the decades-long precedent in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
Roe v. Wade was a landmark case from 1973 which set the precedent for the recognition of women’s constitutional right to abortion. Building upon that decision, the Court’s 1992 ruling on Planned Parenthood v. Casey found certain parameters and provisions for abortion unconstitutional, therefore making abortion even more accessible.
The 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade leaves the matter of abortion up to the people, and to their states’ elected officials. The Court’s decision empowers conservatives from different states to outrightly ban abortion leaving millions of women vulnerable and at risk.
We at PINSAN are indignant, and strongly denounce this backward ruling which allows conservative sentiments to take precedence over every woman’s right to health and medical services.
The decision overrides existing policies in place, reversing gains hard-won by the women’s movements on the ground, and is ultimately aimed at controlling women’s bodies. This ruling is blatantly violative of the fundamental human rights that the US government is obliged to respect, protect, and fulfill.
In 2022, no woman should still be fighting for their basic rights. The health and safety of every woman should not be debated. Banning abortion forces women to turn to unsafe methods which endangers their health and lives.
We at PINSAN stand in solidarity with every woman whose life and rights are continually threatened, violated, and ignored by the very governments intended to advance these rights. Living in a country with restrictive abortion laws, we have seen the serious and disproportionate impact of denying access to safe abortion on marginalized groups. Deaths and complications from lack of access to safe abortion are preventable and a government’s failure to prevent them are unjustified and inexcusable.
As the US becomes an outlier in the positive trend towards the liberalization of abortion across the globe, we remain steadfast in our efforts to liberalize abortion access. We are also on guard from the negative repercussions of this ruling which will reverberate across the globe as those seeking to undermine abortion and other sexual and reproductive rights draw impetus from the Dobbs decision.
We urge governments including the Philippine government to step up and respond to this devastating setback with progressive reforms providing adequate legal guarantees and protections to safe abortion.