The following was released by SEIU Healthcare Illinois Executive Vice President Erica Bland-Durosinmi on the draft SCOTUS opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade:

“As a union of over 90,000 frontline workers, a majority of whom are women working to support families, we are joining our voices to the millions nationwide decrying this opportunistic attack on a woman’s right to choose.

“As healthcare workers, we must state unequivocally that abortion is healthcare. It’s not only crucial that women have access to this service, but that we are grounded in the reality of what will happen—what has already happened—when abortion is made illegal and inaccessible.

“When women cannot access safe and legal abortion, they seek other options which have already sent far too many women to emergency rooms with life threatening infections and injuries. We remember that before Roe v. Wade, women facing an unplanned pregnancy sometimes died.

“The damage inflicted by restricting abortion access is felt disproportionately by low-income women, who are not only more likely to seek abortion, but also are less likely to have the resources needed to overcome restrictions. While middle class women can often afford to travel to obtain a safe legal abortion, working class women are currently struggling just to make their rent or put food on the table.

“This draft opinion is not only dangerous, it flies directly against the will of the people. In 2020, a poll by AP VoteCast found that 69% of presidential voters wanted the Supreme Court to leave Roe V. Wade just as it is.

“It’s crucial that SCOTUS recognizes that abortion is not only healthcare, but like all forms of healthcare, needs to be available to everyone who seeks it regardless of income.”

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