Today’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is an erosion of the fundamental right to reproductive autonomy. This horrifying decision effectively rolls back Roe v. Wade and nearly 50 years of established precedent affirming the right to choose.
All Americans, and particularly LGBTQIA+ individuals, need access to a full range of reproductive services including abortion, contraception, HIV care, preventive services and more. With a lack of affirming healthcare providers, providers of abortion services are often a precious frontline resource for LGBTQIA+ people to receive judgment-free care. This decision will have the biggest impact on Black and Brown communities and people who live in poverty and already face higher barriers to care, as well as LGBTQIA+ persons living at the intersection of those identities.
For 39 years, Resource Center has been at the forefront working to ensure that everyone has access to care and the freedom to make their own decisions about if, when and how to create a family. We will continue fighting to keep it that way.
“We in Texas and the LGBTQIA+ community know all too well the attacks against our right to make decisions about our own bodies. The court’s decision is yet another affront to our community’s rights and dignities. LGBTQIA+ people, particularly transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, already avoid care due to fear of discrimination and disrespect. The erosion of access caused by today’s ruling will only reinforce the barriers faced by so many.”
Resource Center CEO Cece Cox
SB 8, Texas’ own discriminatory law upheld by the Supreme Court, has already caused measurable harm, turning neighbors and fellow citizens into bounty hunters for those seeking abortions. Moreover, the law serves as playbook for the future erosion of long-held rights for LGBTQIA+ Texans – as we have already seen with attacks on access to affirming care for trans youth.
We must fight to protect the hard won gains our community has seen over the last decades. We stand in solidarity to condemn this ruling and affirm that abortion rights are LGBTQIA+ rights.
