Dear friends and colleagues:
“I come to you today with as great a sense of grievance and injustice as of indignation, and with anguish as well as anger over the recent course of events…as regards the Constitutional right to abortion.”
These words from Sissy Farenthold in 1977 are unfortunately even more apt today than they were 45 years ago when she delivered them in a speech to the National Women’s Political Caucus. There, she deplored the many ways in which Roe v. Wade had already been undermined by all three branches of government, through limited access to abortion that excluded poor women.
We write to express our own sense of grievance and injustice, anguish and anger over today’s Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturns even the inadequately realized rights guaranteed by Roe v. Wade. Sissy Farenthold foresaw that the battle for reproductive justice for all would be a long one, and also saw its important connections with race, class, and sexuality struggles.
We reaffirm our commitment to those struggles, as we continue our work at the intersection of academics and advocacy to pursue social justice. We currently are planning an event on the specific implications of this decision for Austin and Texas, and–partly thanks to the new Sissy Farenthold Fund for Peace and Social Justice–will be supporting students and community allies in their work on reproductive and sexual justice.
With continued appreciation to all of you who help make our mission possible,
Karen Engle and Neville Hoad
Co-directors, Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice
View some of our related work:
- Webinar 2022 | Strategies for Reproductive Justice in Texas after the End of Roe v. Wade: From the Local to the Global
- Spring 2015 Annual Conference | [National Panel] Reproductive Rights & Gay Rights: Unexpected Trajectories