EMILYs List Statement on Supreme Court Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade

For Immediate Release
June 24, 2022

EMILYs List Statement on Supreme Court Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, which overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the constitutional right to an abortion, EMILYs List President Laphonza Butler released the following statement:

“Today, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, undoing nearly 50 years of precedent and taking direct aim at our freedom. They have outlawed the right to make our own health care decisions and the freedom that allows us the opportunity to decide our own future. 

This court is moving us backward, taking rights away and giving control of our bodies and our decisions to the government. This decision was made by a handful of justices, most nominated by a president who lost the popular vote and voted in by senators representing less than half of the population, despite the fact that the majority of this country supports the freedom afforded by Roe v. Wade. Their decision will have sweeping consequences for millions of Americans.

Republicans have fought to undermine reproductive rights for decades, and as devastating as this decision is, it won’t be the end of their effort. In states around the country, Republicans are advancing more extreme restrictions to criminalize abortion and punish women and doctors. National Republican groups and party leaders have already made clear their intention to pass a national abortion ban. If they get their way, even states that have codified access to abortion will be forced to stop care. They will not stop until they replace our freedom with their control. 

Make no mistake: abortion is on the ballot this November, and we, the pro-choice majority in this country, will hold them accountable. We will replace them in offices across the country, up and down the ballot with Democratic pro-choice candidates who will fight for our rights and freedom, with women who will work to expand access to anyone who needs it.

Today is a tragic day. But this decision will not end the debate on this issue. We will take this fight to the ballot box. We are the majority in this country and we will fight back.”

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect Democratic pro-choice women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 159 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40% of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.