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Press release/statement

Dēmos President on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization  

"These justices' action today is nothing short of the elimination of self-determination for millions of Americans nationwide."

NEW YORK, NY — Demos President Taifa Smith Butler issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion: 

At this dire moment in American democracy, my heart is with Black and brown families who face disproportionate economic burdens when it comes to bearing, birthing and raising children.

“At this dire moment in American democracy, my heart is with Black and brown families who face disproportionate economic burdens when it comes to bearing, birthing and raising children. Overturning Roe means that in half the country, people who can become pregnant no longer have power over their own bodies and their own lives. It means poor and working-class people of color—who already are up against wage gaps driven by structural racism—face yet another hurdle to exercising their constitutional rights. 

“For 50 years, instead of ensuring Medicaid expansion or putting an end to private prisons or funding our schools or affordable housing, curtailing the civil rights of the American people has been the sole priority of many of our country’s leaders. In this decision, we see the product of decades of deliberate choices that hit working-class and poor people of color the hardest. It is the culmination of political maneuvers—chief among them the installation of an ultra-conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court—that are in direct opposition to the will of the people. 

"The consequences of this decision—made by just 6 people on an increasingly illegitimate Supreme Court—will be devastating. These justices' action today is nothing short of the elimination of self-determination for millions of Americans nationwide.  

“This is a matter that affects us all. Demos stands in solidarity with all who are in this fight to uphold reproductive justice, secure economic justice, and protect our democracy.”