Welcome To The GOP's Era Of Big Government

https://www.opednews.com/articles/Welcome-To-The-GOP-s-Era-O-by-Carl-Petersen-Lgbtq-220704-255.html




"For this reason, in future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court's substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell." - Clarence Thomas on Supreme Court Decisions that protect contraception, sexual freedom, and marriage equality



SCOTUS APRIL 2015 LGBTQ 54663
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When Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the "Don't Say Gay" bill, he tried to frame himself as a defender of parental rights. According to the presidential aspirant, academic censorship was necessary to ensure that conservative parents maintained the ability to keep their children ignorant about LGBTQ+ issues. Students who sought support while working through gender or sexual identity questions needed to be deprived of confidentiality so that they could be whisked away for conversion therapy as quickly as possible. Religious guilt works best when instilled early.



To no one's surprise, it did not take DeSantis very long to prove himself to be a hypocrite. Being in danger of having his title of Commander in Chief of the Cultural Warriors usurped by a Florida Representative who proposed legislation "to 'terminate the parental rights of an adult and hit them with a felony charge if they bring their children to watch drag shows," DeSantis was forced to weigh in on the subject. He declared that these shows were "not age-appropriate" and stated that he "is considering using child protective services to investigate parents who bring their children to see drag performances."

DeSantis is not the only Republican Governor looking to weaponize Child Protective Services. In an attack on transgender children and their families, Texas Governor Rick Abbott ordered that Texas Child Protective Services investigate families providing gender-affirming care to their children despite the fact that this treatment, provided under the direction of a doctor, does not "meet the standards for physical abuse or medical neglect as laid out in the Texas Family Code." Under this policy, mandatory reporters, like teachers, are obligated to contact protective services when they learn that a child is undergoing this care.

These cases combined with the Republican Party's newly found ability to force women into parenthood establish a new reality where the government will have a say in almost every aspect of our private lives. Newly emboldened, the Right is looking to go further. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has already issued the battle cry to relitigate cases that allowed married couples to use birth control, prohibited states from outlawing sodomy(1), and allowed all couples the right to marry(2).

Most remarkably, Republicans have been able to move us closer to the social policies of Saudi Arabia and Iran while only winning the popular vote in one of the last eight presidential elections. How much longer will the majority tolerate an erosion of the rights they value before they conclude that the American experiment with democracy has failed? Yes, until 2003 oral sex was illegal in nine states, even between heterosexual couples.
For some unknown reason, Thomas did not include Loving V. Virginia, which legalized interracial marriage, in his list of cases that need to be litigated despite the fact that it relies on the same right to privacy as Roe V. Wade.









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Supreme Court to Progressives - Wake UP

https://www.opednews.com/articles/Supreme-Court-to-Progressi-by-Ted-Rall-Abortion_Abortion-Laws_Abortion-Legislation_Abortion-Rights-220703-199.html





patient at abortion clinic
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The Supreme Court just sent us a wake-up call. Pro-reality Americans, i.e., the 40% of voters to the left of the Democratic Party, should be grateful.

A freedom essential to half the population never should have hinged upon a flimsy and poorly reasoned legal opinion. Congress should have followed the example of other countries where abortion is legal, and passed a federal law decades ago. Instead, neither party acted on behalf of women. And let's not forget men. Many of them want/need their partners to have abortions.

Democrats are not the answer. They had the chance to codify abortion in 2009, when they had a 60-vote supermajority in the Senate and control of the House. Then-President Barack Obama chose not to lift a finger. "Not the highest legislative priority," Obama sneered as he focused on what he cared about, doling out trillions to Wall Street megabanks. Instead, he channeled his inner laissez-faire Republican, urging Americans to "reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies." Women should despise him and the do-nothing Democrats.

The overturning of Roe v. Wade shines a spotlight on other rights that rest upon the shaky foundation of a Supreme Court decision: men's right to have sex with one another, same-sex marriage, marriage between different races, parental rights over child-rearing, and the sale of contraceptives. This is no way to run a government.

Whether or not the right-wing majority of the Supreme Court is mean and stupid is less important than the fundamental truth that has been revealed: The separation of powers is broken.

When something is important, there oughta be a law, not a ruling.



When a majority of voters arrive at a societal consensus on an issue like those mentioned above, a functional political system responds with a corresponding law negotiated and passed by a legislature.

The U.S., however, is too riddled with partisan dysfunction, and corrupted by corporate lobbyists, to effectively address advances in culture and technology. Thus Congress can't or won't accommodate the 7 out of 10 Americans who want a European-style national health care system, and higher taxes on the rich, or the 56% who want to slash Pentagon spending.

Because Congress is impotent, the highest court of the judicial branch has been stepping in to legislate from the bench, rather than limit itself to its intended role as arbiter of conflicts between laws and the constitution.

Americans have accepted the bastardization of the separation of powers because the result tended to respect popular opinion. In 2015, when the Court legalized same-sex marriage, for example, 57% of voters agreed. (Now it's 71%.).

Not anymore. The rightward shift of the court following former President Donald Trump's three appointees, embodied by polls that show voters wanted to keep Roe by a two-to-one margin, and that New Yorkers were 80% in favor of the SCOTUS-overturned state gun law, have exposed the limits of expediency over ordered governance.

"Up until a couple years ago, it used to be the case that where the court fell was well within the lines of the average Americans' positions," notes Harvard public policy professor Maya Sen. "Now we are estimating that the court falls more squarely in line with the average Republican, not the average American."

Short of revolution, "which I favor", those who wish to see American laws represent current American political and social values have one way forward. Forget the courts. Voters must force legislators to legislate, and the president to sign popular bills into law.

The majority isn't always right. Sometimes politicians should lead the people before they're quite ready. In general, however, a representative democracy that ignores the will of the people is a failure.

Americans who support a woman's right to choose an abortion, all women, not just those privileged enough to live in a blue state, or those in red states, with enough money for travel expenses, face a choice.

They can embark on something this country hasn't seen since the 1960s, with the brief exception of the 2021 Black Lives Matter demonstrations, which were unusually intense and effective, because they were fueled by the COVID lockdown - a sustained campaign of angry agitation.

We need a relentless round of street protests. Economic and cultural boycotts should turn red states into backwater pariahs. Voters can exert financial pressure via contributions that makes congressmen and senators on the wrong side of history and public opinion, miserable enough to support a federal law legalizing abortion whether they like it or not.

Republicans are obvious targets because Democrats need at least 10 GOP senators to federalize abortion rights. Democrats who aren't fierce allies of choice (hello, Joe Manchin) should be primaried out, or face voter boycotts. Protests should erupt in every city, every day, loud and disruptive, and terrifying to the powers that be.

Or abortion rights advocates can bemoan the "Handmaid's Tale" - vilification of America, attend one or two photogenic parades on a conveniently scheduled Sunday afternoon, and recite ridiculous fantasies about packing the Supreme Court (you'd need a 60-vote supermajority) or hoping that its conservative members die under Democratic rule. Meanwhile, Southern women will have to drive a thousand miles to terminate a pregnancy.

Roe was unsustainable. The liberal court was never going to last.

Now that the bubble has burst, don't whine. It's time to organize.











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Information Anarchism

https://www.opednews.com/articles/Information-Anarchism-by-Caitlin-Johnstone-Information-Manipulation_Journalism_Propaganda_Stenographic-Journalism-220704-755.html







This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

Reprinted from caitlinjohnstone.com by Unknown

Listen to a reading of this article:



❖

Our civilization is built upon lies and obfuscation to such an extent that advocating for transparency and the democratization of information can be a complete political ideology, all by itself.

Rather than claiming to know what's best for society (whether we should move left or right, whether we should espouse this model or that model), it is perfectly legitimate to simply support giving humanity the information tools necessary to know the truth about what's happening so that they can collectively determine for themselves what direction to take.



This would mean supporting the end of the mass-scale manipulations and obfuscations used by the powerful to influence the way the public thinks, acts and votes, and it would mean giving them the democratic infrastructure to steer their civilization in response to the true information they've got access to.

It would mean supporting the end of government secrecy and advocating transparency for any institution with any degree of power over the people. The more power and influence they have, the more transparency should be required of them, whether they be governmental, corporate, or financial institutions.

It would mean supporting the democratization of information and the end of mass media propaganda. It would mean breaking up institutions which have too much information-sharing ability and giving more information-sharing ability to those who don't have enough. Rather than a few plutocrats influencing the public, the public influences the public. The public can collectively uplift individual voices and ideas that they like, but no voice is given an unfair advantage in whether or not that will happen.


Imperial Narrative Control Has Five Distinct Elements

"The powerful manipulate the dominant narratives of our society in five major ways: propaganda, censorship, Silicon Valley algorithm manipulation, government secrecy, and the war on journalism."https://t.co/ojJdjAJ11Z

"- Caitlin Johnstone ⏳ (@caitoz) June 24, 2022



It would mean supporting the end of internet censorship and algorithm manipulation, so the information the public sees is determined not by billionaire megacorporations in Silicon Valley but by what's in the zeitgeist and what the public finds interesting.

It would mean calling for an end to the war on journalism and opposing the persecution of publishers like Julian Assange and whistleblowers like Edward Snowden for exposing inconvenient truths about the powerful. All efforts to increase transparency for the powerful and share information in the public interest would be praised, not punished.

In my personal opinion it would also mean supporting the legalization of psychedelics, because giving people the tools to gain information about their inner dimensions is as important for helping them understand the direction society should take as giving them the tools to gain information about their external world.

It would mean the complete absence of any authority controlling people's access to information or ideas in any way. Call it information anarchism, if you like.


Society Is Made Of Narrative. Realizing This Is Awakening From The Matrix.

Life in our society is like the movie The Matrix, except instead of AI keeping us asleep in an illusory world, it's psychopathic oligarchs. And instead of code, it's narrative. https://t.co/mkk41xhtZK

"- Caitlin Johnstone ⏳ (@caitoz) July 13, 2021





Information anarchism is just as radical a goal as any other revolutionary ideology, because information control is so important to the continued existence of our status quo systems that it could never be achieved without drastic measures taken by the collective. The difference is that rather than claiming to know whether ideological models like communism or anarcho-capitalism would be better, for example, one only supports giving the people the means to collectively decide for themselves.

The idea of true information anarchy can be as frightening to the ego as the idea of total societal anarchy, because nobody being in control means there's nobody to stop it from going in a frightening direction. What if ideas I don't like gain popularity? What if people start thinking wrong thoughts and believing wrong beliefs?

But that's kind of the appeal, in my opinion. Really taking the brakes off of the way information moves through our world and letting humanity take full unbridaled advantage of the interconnectedness of our brains at this unprecedented juncture in terrestrial history could lead somewhere very bad, but it could also lead somewhere very good. And whatever ends up happening would be because of our own decisions instead of the decisions of a few powerful manipulators.

And right now the latter is what's happening. We're on a collision course with extinction via environmental catastrophe or nuclear war, and it's because of the decisions made by powerful people who are continuously working to control what ideas and information we consume. If information was really freed up, along with our ability to collectively control the direction humanity takes going forward, it's hard to imagine we'd mess it up any worse than they have.




And whatever world we built together will have been by our own informed consent, instead of the manufactured consent of elite manipulators. If we've seen it all and we still choose our own destruction, then that will have been our choice. Whatever happens will be humanity showing the universe what it's really made of. What we really are as a species.

And in my opinion, that's what real freedom looks like. Giving humanity the tools to go whatever way it wants to go, even if it's the way of the dinosaur. If you really, truly value freedom, in my opinion that's the wisest place to take your stand.

Wanting the truth to be known whatever it may be is a standalone ideology, and it's also a standalone personal philosophy. Wanting the truth to be known not just in the world but in your own life, even if it's uncomfortable or embarrassing. Wanting unhealthy dynamics in your interpersonal relationships to come into awareness. Wanting your unhealed traumas to come into the light of consciousness where they can be healed. Wanting your delusions to be seen so they can be dispelled by truth. Wanting it all to come out into the light: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

It's possible for an individual to live an entire life that is guided by truth and by the desire for truth, and I'm fairly certain it's possible for all of humanity to live that way as well. We can all push for that, if we decide we want it. We can all decide that we're sick of being lied to, sick of being manipulated, sick of the completely backward status quo of secrecy for the powerful and surveillance for everyone else, and we can use the power of our numbers to force it to change.

And from there we can sort out together what kind of world we want to live in, guided by the light of truth, whether toward harmony or oblivion, come what may.

'Bloodbath': At Least 6 Dead, Dozens Wounded in Mass Shooting at Illinois July 4th Parade

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/07/04/bloodbath-least-6-dead-dozens-wounded-mass-shooting-illinois-july-4th-parade


"What freedom do we have if we fear being gunned down at a parade?" asked one progressive politician horrified by the reported carnage.



Brett Wilkins July 4, 2022


Panicked children and adults ran for their lives Monday as at least six people were killed and dozens more were wounded in a mass shooting that took place during a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park.

"Freedom to die at a holiday parade is not freedom."

Veteran Chicago Sun-Times reporter Lynn Sweet—who described the scene of the shooting as a "bloodbath"—said she saw blankets covering three bloodied bodies and five other people wounded and bloodied near the parade viewing stand.

More than 30 people who were wounded—mostly by gunshots but some from the ensuing chaos at the parade—were taken to local hospitals.

"We have an active shooter situation in Highland Park, at their parade. It's been reported that there've been nine people shot," Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. "I've been in touch with our state police, who are backing up local police and hoping to keep the crowd safe there."


Highland Park resident Miles Zaremski told the paper: "I heard 20 to 25 shots, which were in rapid succession. So it couldn't have been just a handgun or a shotgun."

CBS Chicago digital producer Elyssa Kaufman, who was watching the parade with her family, said that "everyone was running, hiding and screaming."

"It was extremely terrifying," she added. "It was very scary. We are very fortunate, we got out very quickly."

Gun control advocates lamented the latest of more than 300 U.S. mass shootings this year.


"Another horrifying day in America," tweeted anti-poverty activist Joe Sanberg. "We must do everything we can to end gun violence."

Democratic Kentucky U.S. Senate candidate Charles Booker tweeted that "freedom to die at a holiday parade is not freedom," while Ohio progressive Nina Turner asked, "What freedom do we have if we fear being gunned down at a parade?"

Separately, at least nine people were killed and scores more were wounded—with the injured ranging in age from 10 to 90—in Chicago shootings over the July 4th weekend.

Americans Discuss Whether Biden Should Run Again (The Onion)

 Click link for slideshow:

 https://www.theonion.com/americans-discuss-whether-biden-should-run-again-1849113108 

 

 

 

 

 

Labor Condemns Supreme Court Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade

https://popularresistance.org/labor-condemns-supreme-court-decision-overturning-roe-v-wade/






By Portside.

July 1, 2022
Resist!

Numerous Unions Condemned The Supreme Court’s Decision To End The Constitutional Right To An Abortion.

A Sampling, From Multiple Unions Representing Workers In Virtually Every Sector Of The Economy, Are Reprinted Below.

On June 27, The Supreme Court, by a 6-3 Majority took the extreme step of denying an existing constitutional right by overturning Roe V. Wade. This decision to deny women the right to an abortion is an attack on all women, is an attack on all working people The statements below by numerous labor organizations all make that point and all point to the necessity to resist and to organize.

No Justice, No Peace — CLUW Response to the Supreme Court Decision to Overturn Roe v Wade!
Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW)

The Coalition of Labor Union Women was founded in 1974, the year after Roe v Wade confirmed a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. The CLUW founding mothers believed in a woman’s right to a safe termination of her pregnancy and we still believe every woman has that right. The six Supreme Court justices who leaked their intent to overturn Roe v Wade and then made it final today have no justice in their hearts for women’s reproductive rights. We will march, we will protest — and most importantly, we will vote!! We will mobilize millions of women across the country to exercise their right to vote out any elected official who stands in the way of our freedom to choose what happens in our bodies!

There is an old saying that goes, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” — we say, “Hell hath no fury like pro-choice women at the ballot box!” Get ready, because we are coming for every anti-choice candidate and we will vote you out so consider yourself warned!!

We invite all pro-choice people to join us in our work to affirm reproductive freedom!

Peace, love and solidarity forever,

Elise Bryant, President

—

Pride At Work

The decision of the radical right-wing majority on the Supreme Court in Dobbs vs. Jackson, that denies the fundamental right of women to make their own healthcare decisions will go down as one of the worst decisions in the history of the court.

With this decision, the extremists on the court have forfeited any remaining semblance of their claims to nonpartisanship, and have fully embraced the extreme agenda that does not represent the vast majority of Americans. The right to choose is fundamental to bodily autonomy and basic human freedom. We cannot let this stand.

The extremist majority on the Court shows it is willing to overlook decades of precedent to set aside the right to choose, and clearly shows where their future intentions lie. Obergefell, which legalized marriage equality nationwide, which was only decided less than a decade ago, is clearly in the crosshairs.

Even more concerning is the possibility of overturning Lawrence v. Texas, which banned draconian sodomy laws nationwide. 15 states have refused to repeal their sodomy laws since that decision in 2003. Justice Clarence Thomas directly referenced that these two decisions protecting LGBTQ+ rights should be overturned in his opinion. We must fight back now.

We can’t predict how future cases will be decided by this Court, but this bombshell ruling makes clear that nothing is safe from this radical conservative majority.

Pride at Work will fight every day until the right to choose is codified into law nationwide. Congress must act to protect access to abortion. If they won’t, then this November we must elect a Congress that will.
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA)

Today, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling on Dobbs v Jackson’s Women Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision which established a constitutional right to abortion. Effective today, nearly 40 million women, girls, transgender, and gender-nonconforming people in 26 states will lose access to to abortion, a vital form of healthcare. APALA, as the first and only national organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander workers, condemns this decision and stands ready to join the fight for reproductive justice.

The resulting abortion ban disproportionately impacts AAPI access to abortion. Sixty-six percent of Asian Americans and 30 percent of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders speak a language other than English at home and experience difficulties in accessing health care due to language barriers. In addition, a third of AAPI pregnancies end in abortion, underlining the necessity of this care in our community. In 2019, APALA passed a resolution on bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health that reaffirms our belief that “every that individual have a fundamental right to make personal reproductive health decisions free from coercion, discrimination, and stigma.”

The violence of patriarchy obscures the root cause of this issue which is to control the bodily autonomy and family making decisions of working people. Bodily autonomy is essential to our freedom and is a working a class issue. APALA will continue to stand in solidarity with people of color and other marginalized groups fighting for this freedom. As the Movement for Black Lives wrote in their statement, “Black women, girls, transgender, and gender-nonconforming people have been subjected to a long history of reproductive control rooted in the brutal legacy of enslavement—and denying access to safe, legal abortion and gender-affirming health services is a continuation of that troubling history.” APALA stands in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives and recognizes the disproportionate impact this decision has on our black and brown siblings.

Jessica Tang, APALA National Treasurer and President of the Boston Teachers Union Local 66, said: “This ruling removes access to vital healthcare services, putting the health of women across the country at risk. In my journey to building my family, I was devastated to face choices that no expecting pregnant person wants to make. Due to a rare fetal anomoly that took a turn for the worse in my third trimester and medical complications resulting from this, I had to travel thousands of miles out of state to get a late term abortion. Access is already very limited, and I was lucky to have the ability and access to safe healthcare treatment, but under this ruling, many millions of families will be cut off from the treatment they need and it will become even more difficult for those who find themselves in situations like this. It is an economic justice issue and it is a health care issue, and our country has now gone backwards.”

Alvina Yeh, APALA Executive Director, said: “As a mother and someone who had an ectopic pregnancy that put my life in danger, I am grateful that I was given safe, legal options to terminate the pregnancy. Abortion access shouldn’t depend on how much you money you have or where you live. Yet, for too many, abortion is already too difficult to access. The Supreme Court’s opinion confirms our worst fears: the control of our bodies at the hands of the state. Reproductive justice is a worker’s right issue.”
Labor Council For Latin American Advancement (LCLAA)

LCLAA is highly disappointed and dismayed to learn about the Supreme Court decision, ending almost 50 years of federal constitutional protections of abortion rights. With the overturn of Roe v. Wade, access to abortion will likely be banned or severely restricted in most states.

The loss of this right is part of the broader continued attack on women of color and other marginalized groups. LCLAA has worked diligently to promote inclusion and diversity in the workforce through efforts like our Latina Equal Pay and Trabajadoras campaigns and our involvement with the Paycheck Fairness Act Coalition. Our work has taught us that access to reproductive health services, including birth control and bodily autonomy, lead to higher education attainment and economic security.

Women denied control of their bodies are more likely to have an income below the federal poverty level, more likely to receive public assistance, and less likely to be working full time. Women’s economic options are further limited by the lack of affordable childcare and paid family leave policies nationwide. This is an economic issue; any restriction of this right will fall disproportionately on women of color and will prevent them from achieving their full potential.

LCLAA is concerned that this decision will allow and justify a massive rollback on fundamental rights that we have all collectively fought for. In the initial draft, Supreme Court Justice Alito supported the majority opinion stating that “until the latter part of the 20th century, there was no support in American law for the constitutional right to obtain an abortion.” This language endangers us. If the Court sees progress as lacking precedence, it threatens the rights of the LGBT+ community and communities of color who have only gained many of their rights and liberties during the Civil Rights Movement. Who is to say that the right to abortion will be the only right that we lose?

The action of the Court today only shows us the repercussions of privilege, making a decision to strip the rights of communities that many of them have never been part of. We must remain vigilant, ready to mobilize the instant our labor rights and civil rights are jeopardized. LCLAA’s dedication to the labor movement is unwavering. We will not let the work of our movement, the progress that has taken communities decades to build, be undone so easily.
AFL-CIO

Statement from AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization:

Today’s decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade is a devastating blow to working women and families across this country. We strongly believe that everyone should have control over their own bodies, including decisions over their personal reproductive health care. At a time when we should be focused on expanding equity for all working people, particularly for marginalized communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, this ruling will only deepen racial and economic disparities. The burden of this decision will undoubtedly fall on low-income women and gender-oppressed people, and no one should be forced into financial insecurity because they have been denied reproductive health care. Our government also must prioritize overdue and necessary investments in our child care system, and family and medical paid leave; it must end the gender wage gap and increase access to jobs with high wages and good benefits.

This is just the latest in a harmful string of attacks on our fundamental rights, including the right to vote and to collectively bargain in the workplace, and points to an alarming trend that other well-settled rights like marriage equality may be taken away. The current conservative majority of the Supreme Court is bent on limiting bodily autonomy, freedom and self-determination to a select few, and that is fundamentally undemocratic. America’s unions remain committed to the fight for gender justice and economic equity for all people.
Actors’ Equity Association

Actors’ Equity Association, the national labor union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers in live theatre, has issued the following statement in response to the news that the Supreme Court of the United States has issued a ruling repealing Roe V. Wade:

“Knowing that this decision was likely imminent has not made this news any less painful. This is a catastrophic step backwards for human rights in this country. Equity once again affirms that abortion is a necessary and often life-saving medical procedure that requires safe, legal and open access.

“Equity’s thoughts are with our members, knowing that populations that are already marginalized by society will suffer the most as a result of this ruling, and the anti-abortion movement especially targets groups like women and LGBTQ+ Americans. However, this is not a time to mourn, but a time for action. The union is determined to do everything in our power to serve our members, which includes helping them access abortion care.

“So much in the future is uncertain, as some states have already set into motion legislation that not only criminalizes abortion, but outlaws even providing care related to abortion access. Access to reproductive care is a labor issue, and a safe and sanitary workplace is not possible without the right to bodily autonomy. We are determined to find ways to protect our members, many of whom tour the country to earn a living, or who live or work in states that are about to become far more dangerous for those needing reproductive care. This will include connecting them to whatever resources are available that will help them secure abortions when they need them.”

“We also know that this fight will not stop with abortion. We will lend our voice to the important work already underway to protect abortion access, and we remain committed to combatting legislation that seeks to capitalize on this ruling and further impinge on human rights in the United States.”
American Federation Of Musicians (AFM)

In one of the most stunning reversals in the modern era of the US Supreme Court, a majority of the Court overturned a nearly 50-year precedent in Roe v. Wade and gave states a license to ban abortion. This ruling is an attack on women’s reproductive health and a dangerous setback for fundamental human rights.

The International Executive Board of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada believes that everyone should be able to make their own decisions concerning their reproductive rights, health, and future. We are at a time in our country’s history when voting is more important than ever. Our elected officials are making decisions that impact us for generations to come.

As we head into mid-term elections and prepare for the 2024 national election, ask your elected officials and local candidates where they stand on reproductive rights, demand commitments to protecting abortion access, and spread the word to other voters. Among the states banning abortion are those least likely to provide access to health care for low-income families and adequate safeguards for our most vulnerable children.

As a society, we must do better than this. We remain optimistic that we will see once again a future where every person is guaranteed access to quality and comprehensive reproductive care.
Association Of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA)

Today, the Supreme Court struck down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) President Sara Nelson released the following statement:

“If you believe women are equal, build your union with urgency.”

President Nelson’s statement from May 3 stands:
We Organized To Define Our Careers, Keep Our Personal Choices As Our Own, And Lift Up Our Role In Saving Lives As Aviation’s First Responders.

“Choice and self-determination are at the foundation of why we formed our union 75 years ago. In the earliest days of commercial aviation, we were allowed few choices in the workplace. Every part of our bodies and our lives were dictated by management. Airlines only hired white, single, childless women under age 32 who met specific height, weight, and male defined appearance standards. Even if you met those “standards,” getting pregnant, having a baby, choosing to marry or gaining a few pounds meant giving up your job and handing in your wings. Our first demands as a union were seniority-based scheduling, to stop managers from using schedules to coerce us to choose between sexual exploitation and earning a living.

“Today anyone with the heart of a Flight Attendant can choose this career, and through our unions we have a voice and legal standing on the job to protect our rights.
The Right For Each Of Us To Make Our Own Choices About Our Jobs, Our Bodies, And Our Futures Is Fundamental
They Will Strip The Freedom To Marry From Our LGBTQ Colleagues And Neighbors. They Will Strip Away Our Rights To Birth Control.
Now Is The Time To Demonstrate This Commitment To Their Employees And Passengers.
American Federation Of State County Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

AFSCME President Lee Saunders issued the following statement Friday after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the landmark abortion-rights case Roe v. Wade:

“The Supreme Court’s decision overturns a precedent that has stood for nearly half a century, stripping away a foundational freedom that has allowed generations to enjoy dignity and economic security. The court’s opinion is also undemocratic, in brazen defiance of the views and values of a clear majority of people across the country.

“Reproductive rights are workers’ rights. Reproductive justice is economic justice. The decision about when and whether to bear children is fundamental to the ability to pursue self-sustaining work. That’s why AFSCME has worked to protect reproductive rights and access to family planning services of all kinds. And we have opposed any policies, legislation, regulation or constitutional amendment to restrict these core freedoms.

“Reproductive rights are an issue of life and death. The court’s ruling is an attack on individual humanity, autonomy and personal liberty. It will mean chaos and desperation in the lives of so many people. And the burden will fall most heavily on communities of color, low-income families, immigrant populations, people who are already marginalized. There will also be a chilling effect throughout the health care industry, affecting how providers can care for their patients.

“The court said today that the most deeply personal choices about your bodies, your health care and your future are not yours to make. We trust people to make the right decisions for themselves and their families – guided by their own moral and religious beliefs and not the political views of six judges.

“More than half of the states are poised to enact or implement cruel, draconian laws undermining the privacy rights and personal freedoms of millions of people. Working with coalition partners, AFSCME will do everything in our power to neutralize the impact of this decision, including working to elect candidates this year who will make it a top priority to protect reproductive rights.”
American Federation Of Teachers (AFT)

Statement by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on the U.S. Supreme Court decision today in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade and ruling that there is no constitutional right to abortion:

“In the span of one week, an extremist-dominated Supreme Court decided it has the authority to divine who in America has rights and freedoms and who does not.

“Upending decades of long-settled precedent that will impact the lives of millions of people, the court’s conservative majority this week took away the rights of those who rely on the constitutional separation of church and state to freely practice religion, took away the rights of states to protect children and families from gun violence, and, today, took away the rights of women and anyone who can get pregnant to decide when to have a family. In the span of 24 hours, this court ruled that states can’t regulate gun owners but can regulate the bodies of anyone who can reproduce.

“This revanchist view of their authority by extremist judges is a threat to freedom everywhere. Whose freedom is the Supreme Court coming for next? Justice Clarence Thomas already has a pen aimed at marriage, contraception and more. This decision has massive, far-reaching implications for every person in this country, and puts those of us who teach students, take care of patients and serve our communities in particularly precarious positions. We knew this decision was coming, but the damage of reversing Roe is shocking nonetheless. This is a dark day in American history.”
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU)

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) International President John Costa released the following statement condemning the Supreme Court ruling stripping away nationwide abortion rights in the U.S by rescinding the landmark 1973 case establishing the right to an abortion, citing the negative impact on women and workers.

“The unconscionable decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is a massive step backward for women and workers in our country. While our members hold a variety of personal beliefs regarding abortions, this decision is an attack on the freedoms and rights of women and working people. Access to healthcare, including the full range of family planning services, without fear is everyone’s right and reproductive freedom is a worker’s rights issue.

“At the bargaining table, and while on strike, the ATU fights to ensure our members can determine when they will start a family and how they will care for them. In order to ensure that our members can make their own decisions, we fight for family-supporting wages, comprehensive employer-paid family health insurance, paid parental leave, and paid family and medical leave. By placing our members’ family planning and medical decisions in the hands of state legislators and governors, the Supreme Court has abolished the fundamental rights of working people.

“This criminalization of reproductive healthcare will fall hardest on working-class people, particularly communities of color and low-income families in those states that are poised to immediately restrict reproductive rights and access to a full range of family planning services. Their only option will be to travel across state lines in order to get the health care they need. Unfortunately, our members who operate the nation’s interstate buses will witness firsthand the impact of this wrongheaded decision as they carry over long distances passengers in precarious health trying to cross state lines in order to exercise their right to make their own family planning and medical decisions.

“The right to make decisions about our health and families is at the heart of what we fight for as a union. Our Union will work to elect leaders who will condemn this attack on our constitutional rights and advocate for the low-income workers who will be hit the hardest.”
International Alliance Of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)

In its outrageous decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, SCOTUS has abandoned a 50-year precedent and the will of 70% of the American people to impose one of the worst contractions of freedoms in modern US history. Make no mistake, this will directly harm the welfare of our union sisters and kin, and therefore we must respond strongly.

We know well the catastrophic consequences that follow when authoritarians legislate control over our wombs, bodies, and lives. Taking away the option to receive compassionate reproductive care in the form of safe, legal abortions will disproportionally harm working-class people, force unwilling parents into poverty, worsen the already unacceptable maternal mortality crisis, imprison innocents for their biological functions (including miscarriages), and cut short far too many bright careers and lives.

If extremist justices will blatantly ignore established legal precedent and lie about it in their confirmation hearings, how far will they go? The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision shows the court is prepared to nullify the rights Americans fought and died for.

We stand together as sisters, brothers, and kin to ensure liberty and justice for ALL. Lawmakers at all levels must defend reproductive healthcare and Americans’ fundamental freedoms immediately, or face being replaced by those who will.
IATSE Women’s Committee Statement

The IATSE Women’s Committee believes in the right of all persons to make life choices based on the best information they have that impacts their immediate decision.

Having lived in this country as women, many of us know too well the injustices and inequities that we’ll face under this authoritarian move. Not that long ago, we fought for contraceptive insurance coverage, and it’s still not comprehensive. We still fight for equal pay. We still don’t have equal representation in our so-called halls of justice.

Let’s not forget that just a few short months ago we saw many Americans stealing the pro-choice slogan “My Body, My Choice” when it was convenient for them. Our bodies are no less valuable. Our contributions to this country are no less valuable. Our choices are equally significant. This is about controlling women.

The Women’s Committee is primed to take back that slogan and stand with the 70 % of Americans who support choice. We will stand together with our sisters, brothers, and kin to ensure …liberty and justice for ALL.

Joanne Sanders
IATSE VP & Chair of IATSE Womens Committee
IATSE DEI Committee Statement

The DEI Committee is dismayed and outraged by the Dobbs v. Jackson decision overturning Roe vs Wade. All five justices in favor spoke to Roe vs Wade being an established precedent in their confirmation hearings, and now blatantly ignore that precedent. BIPOC and working-class people will bear the brunt of this decision; autonomy and choice will be taken away, with no exceptions in at least 20 states across the USA.

The language of the decision and blatant disregard of established precedent is disturbing, and leaves opportunities to repeal established Civil Rights legislation on interracial marriage, marriage equality, equal opportunity and Title IX, and even Brown v. Board of Education. Decades of hard-fought progress on voting rights, equality, humanity and equity-building are at risk from the a stroke of a pen.

We must not let this happen. We will work together to protect choice and our collective Civil Right

In Solidarity,
― IATSE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
The IATSE Pride Committee Stands With Our Sisters And Kin

As we prepare this weekend for the New York City Pride March, fifty-three years after the events of Stonewall, we are once again facing the uncertainty of our rights to live and love.

Today the US Supreme Court handed down a devastating decision, overturning fifty years of precedent that gave people agency over their own bodies via access to safe abortions. To be clear, this decision does not end abortion. It ends safe abortions and will be especially harmful to those that are already struggling to survive. The IATSE Pride Committee strongly denounces this decision, and we stand with our kin and commit to fighting this rollback of fundamental rights for people to make their own healthcare decisions.

We must also underscore that this is only the beginning. Conservative Justice Thomas made clear that other past rulings that should be overturned are Griswold (right to contraception), Lawrence (same-sex activity), and Obergefell (same-sex marriage).

Rights for which we have fought for over decades, can be taken away overnight. This weekend, as we march, we must remember that pride began as a protest. And as we watch rights being stripped away, we need to stand together to once again protest as if our life depends on it. Because, for many, it absolutely does.

The IATSE Pride Committee
International Longshore And Warehouse Union (ILWU)

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) strongly condemns the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning the longstanding precedent, Roe v. Wade, that protected reproductive health care rights for Americans for half a century. Since the late 1930s, the Supreme Court has expanded rights; this decision to take rights away represents a dangerous shift for all Americans and the rights we take for granted.

The overturning of Roe v. Wade is a direct attack on people’s fundamental right to reproductive health care and bodily autonomy. The impact of the criminalization of reproductive health care that some states will enact in the wake of this decision will be borne disproportionally by working-class people and people who do not have the means to travel to states with more rights.

It is clear from Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion that the Supreme Court is not going to stop here and the extremists on the Court intend to take more rights away from Americans. Justice Thomas explicitly calls on the Court to reconsider precedents that protect the rights to contraception, same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriage.

The vast majority of Americans overwhelmingly support reproductive rights. Five of the nine sitting Justices were appointed by presidents who did not win the popular vote. The anti-majoritarian features of our Constitution are being wielded by the extreme right-wing to block policies supported by the majority.

The ILWU stands firmly in solidarity with all of those impacted by this decision and the right of all people to have access to reproductive health care and bodily autonomy. We urge Congress to pass legislation that codifies Roe v. Wade as the law of the land.

An Injury to One is an Injury to All.
International Union Of Bricklayers And Allied Craft Workers (BAC

International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craft Workers (BAC) President Tim Driscoll issued the following statement today after US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade:

“Today’s Supreme Court decision to eliminate women’s constitutional right to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions is a direct assault on the right of individual self-determination — the essential right to control one’s own body without government interference.

“Labor unions are dedicated to the proposition that workers have a voice in promoting the physical, economic, and social welfare of their members and all other workers. And the right of workers to control their own bodies cannot be separated from the right of workers to control their own labor.

“BAC will remain engaged to support the right of women, and all workers, to make their own decisions about their health and body.”
International Union Of Painters And Allied Trades (IUPAT)

International Union of Painters and Allied Trades General President Jimmy Williams, Jr. issued the following statement in the wake of the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade:

“Today is a sad day for democracy. The Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe is a direct attack on the working people of this country. This decision, made by unelected and unaccountable people, will hurt millions of people, particularly women, the poor, and disadvantaged. The extremists on the Supreme Court who don’t believe in reproductive rights also don’t believe in the most basic labor rights.

The unelected Supreme Court is intent on rolling back long-standing rights in an effort to advance their partisan agenda. Their majority opinion and concurrences imply that they are far from satisfied and intend to further erode our rights including access to birth control, to marry who we please, and love who we choose. This court could very well extend rulings leading to nationwide right to work in a similar manner.

I believe that we all have a responsibility to take part in the fight to come. Make no mistake, the courts have no intention of stopping here. The same Justices that are intent on overturning decades of rights believe firmly in eroding our rights at work. The labor movement cannot be silent on this issue, because it is coming for us too.”
National Education Association (NEA)

The Supreme Court today issued a decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, National Education Association President Becky Pringle released the following statement:

“The overwhelming majority of Americans believe that the women they know and love should have the right to determine their own family planning and reproductive health. But today’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade shows once again how the current majority of the Supreme Court is continuing to put their radical ideological agenda above our basic human rights and freedoms.

“To all those who are out there scared, worried, and angry, I see you. I hear you. And I stand with you.

“This decision strips away from millions across race, place and gender identities, the right to make their own health care decisions and about when and how to have a family. The devastating results will be the loss of health, economic security, and even life for women and their families. Today’s decision strips away the fundamental freedom to decide for ourselves the care we need, and hands that power to state legislatures instead.

“It is an attack on rights deeply rooted in the promise of America, one that puts at risk fundamental civil liberties protected over the years through landmark Supreme Court decisions – including the right of interracial couples to marry, the right of unmarried people to use contraception, the right of same-sex couples to marry, and other rights that have been the bedrock of American society for generations.

“And this is another example of how, over the last few years, we have seen the same faction of politicians working overtime to reverse decades of progress on racial justice, on women’s rights, on worker’s rights, on LGBTQ+ rights, on voting rights, on our right to privacy, and on our students’ freedom to learn in our public schools.

“These attacks on our freedoms are designed to do one thing – consolidate unfettered power into the hands of a few. We must stand up for all of our rights.

“Together, we all must do our part to preserve our democracy and help our nation live up to the beautiful poetry of our Constitution. When we say, ‘We the people,’ we mean ALL the people. It is time for all of us to demand our freedoms by marching, by speaking out, and most importantly by voting for pro-public school, pro-freedom candidates up and down the ballot.”
Background:

NEA has a long history of advocating for the rights of our members – 78% of which are women — and that includes their reproductive freedom.

NEA develops policies at its Representative Assembly, the largest democratic gathering in the country. Each year, thousands of delegates (NEA members elected by their peers) debate and vote on establishing positions. Since 1978, we have supported the right of our members to choose whether to have children and how to have a family. Our official resolution says, “The National Education Association believes in family planning, including the right to reproductive freedom.”

Over the years, NEA has participated in litigation on behalf of members based on Roe v. Wade, including the cases of: Jeanne Eckmann, a teacher who studied to be a nun, became pregnant as a result of rape, and was fired by her school district for choosing to have a child out of wedlock. (NEA relied on Roe to argue that it violated her right to reproductive freedom for the school to fire her for exercising her right not to have an abortion.)
Linda Littlejohn, a Kentucky member fired for getting a divorce. (The Sixth Circuit agreed with NEA that her firing violated the right established in Roe to privacy in matters relating to procreation and marriage.)
Janice Dike, a Florida member denied the right to breastfeed her baby during her duty-free lunch period. (The Fifth Circuit agreed with NEA in relying on Roe’s recognition of a fundamental right to decide how to nurture and raise children, referring to breastfeeding as the “most elemental form of parental care.”)

NEA has also supported reproductive freedom in amicus filings in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, and Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

NEA will continue to support the freedom of its members to choose whom they will love and marry, when they will try to have a child and a family, and how they will raise their children.
National Nurses Union (NNU)

Registered nurses understand that abortion is a basic health care service, and as a union of health care providers dedicated to advocating for the best interests of our patients, National Nurses United opposes any efforts to restrict our patients’ control and choices over their own health care and their own bodies. The basic tenets of ethical medical care dictate that patients should enjoy autonomy, self-determination, and dignity over their bodies, their lives, and the health care they receive. Singling out this exception, the right to end a pregnancy, that targets only people with reproductive capacity, is not only bad health policy, it is immoral, discriminatory, misogynist, violent, unacceptable, and violates the nursing ethics we nurses pledge to uphold.

The Supreme Court’s overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling today in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is a shameful and dangerous assault on women, other child-bearing people, and families at a sweeping scale. This decision is part of a coordinated rightwing effort to undo hard-won human and civil rights in the United States, and to control working people by removing their power and bodily autonomy. This decision goes against the beliefs and values of the vast majority of people in the United States and is an attack on democracy itself.

“Abortion is health care. Plain and simple,” said Jean Ross, RN and president of National Nurses United. “It’s outrageous and completely unacceptable to single out this one health care service, that’s only needed by people who can get pregnant, as illegal. We nurses have a duty to always advocate for our patients, and that’s exactly what we’ll continue to do: fight for our patients’ rights to make their own health care decisions and control their own bodies. We won’t rest until this right is restored to all.”

As nurses, we know that the overturning of Roe v. Wade will have devastating effects on our patients’ most basic access to health, safety, and well-being. For the more than 20 states that have trigger laws or constitutional amendments already on the books, abortion will be immediately banned. Yet as health care providers, we know from experience that abortions will not stop. They will continue underground because they are a vital medical necessity, a basic health care service. Abortions will simply become more expensive, harder to access, and in many cases unsafe. Those with money and resources will continue to be able to get safe abortions, and those without will not. Those who cannot find safe, clinical spaces to get abortion services will resort to DIY methods. As one of our nurse practitioners said, “Many people will unnecessarily die.”

This denial of health care will most violently harm and deepen existing inequalities for low-income people, and people who already suffer from lack of and inadequate health care, such as Black, Latinx, and immigrant women. We believe overturning Roe is only a first step: Reversing an almost half-century old health care right opens the door for the extremist Supreme Court and the authoritarian right to attack numerous other liberties that many take for granted, such as the right to contraception, interracial marriage, and LGBTQ+ rights. These assaults on basic human rights hurt all working people.

As a union representing a profession of predominantly women that has advocated relentlessly for gender and health care justice, we are keenly aware of how reproductive rights and justice are inextricably linked to our careers and work lives. Reproductive health care justice – which is bound together with economic, racial, and gender justice – is a priority for nurses and must be a priority for all working people. Organized attacks on abortion rights, reproductive decision-making, access to health care, and bodily autonomy are part of an anti-worker, anti-democratic, sexist, and racist political agenda.

“The responsibility to reverse the impact of this horrible Supreme Court decision rests squarely with the U.S. Congress,” said NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN. “A majority exists in both the House and Senate to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade but it will require the Senate to eliminate the filibuster to allow for a vote. Senators who say they want to protect a woman’s right to control her own body must be willing to change Senate rules so a vote can be held on this crucial issue. Senators are faced with a stark choice: maintain the anti-democratic, archaic Senate filibuster rule or protect a woman’s right to choose. Now is the time to take a stand for women and for reproductive health care justice.”

Reproductive justice is requisite for any democracy where working people truly have a say in our workplaces and communities. For us to have a voice at work, to provide for our families, and to advocate for ourselves politically, we must have the human right to maintain bodily autonomy—to be able to make decisions about when and whether to have children, and to parent children in safe and healthy communities. As Rebecca Goldfader, NP, who is one of our members and a longtime reproductive justice activist, said, “The ability to have choice and ownership over our reproductive capacity is at the basis of a free society.”

Nurses and other health care workers advocate tirelessly for our patients and have won safe staffing ratios, Covid-19 protections, and countless other improvements to the health care system through collective action. However, all these advances are at risk as the authoritarian right encroaches on our most basic liberties.

Nurses will not tolerate these assaults. We will continue to act in solidarity with our coworkers , our patients, and our communities to defend the human rights that workers have fought for and won over centuries of struggle in the United States. And we will continue our relentless fight for social, political, and economic justice by working collectively, participating in our local and national elections, and never relenting in our workplace struggle to create an equitable and high-quality health care system.

National Nurses United is the country’s largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 175,000 members nationwide.
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

SEIU President Mary Kay Henry issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling today in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

“We are angered and disgusted by today’s Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. Joining hands with Republican politicians, the extremist majority of the court has taken away women’s fundamental right to abortion, sending us back 50 years. This reckless decision is yet another example of the nation’s highest court jettisoning its own precedent to cater to powerful right-wing and corporate interests while rolling back the rights of working people.

As a direct result of this ruling, more women will be forced to choose between paying their rent or traveling long distances to receive safe abortion care. Working women are already struggling in poverty-wage jobs without paid leave and many are also shouldering the caregiving responsibilities for their families, typically unpaid. This radical decision will impact all of us, especially those who already face barriers to accessing health care because of structural racism, sexism and corporate greed. Without the ability to determine whether and when to have children, essential workers serving their communities as child care providers, home care workers, health care workers, janitors and fast food workers can’t hope to join the middle class.

Right-wing politicians claim to support families, but they have taken every opportunity to undermine the progress made by working women and mothers, whether it’s taking away our reproductive freedom or failing to invest in child care and home and community care. SEIU’s 2 million members stand with our partners in the reproductive justice movement, with clinic workers who continue to provide essential services and with the people who need their care. We will keep fighting. This ruling is further motivation for working people to vote in record numbers at the midterms and elect leaders who will defend the rights of working women and all of us.”
The NewsGuild (TNG-CWA)

The NewsGuild-CWA vowed today to continue to fight for access to abortion as a fundamental health care right and as a matter of personal choice.

“The Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade strikes a devastating blow to the right to privacy and the right of women and all people to control their own bodies and make decisions about their own health care,” said NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss. “The court’s decision on abortion is likely the start of the destruction of many of our rights, including the right to marry.”

“We are encouraging our members to respond to this assault on their personal freedom and essential health care by doing what we do best: organizing to protect our rights in the workplace,” he said.

After a draft of the Court’s decision was leaked to Politico in May, Guild leaders said, “Comprehensive, reliable and affordable health care is a human right and access to abortion is a crucial component of comprehensive health care.”

NewsGuild members and staff have been meeting since then to develop bargaining approaches that provide coverage for abortion care in collective bargaining agreements and to equip our membership with the tools to organize their coworkers to take action on this core labor issue.

“It’s important for members to review their collective bargaining agreement to know their contractual rights and to understand any specific limitations that may have been bargained into the contract,” said Marian Needham, the Guild’s executive vice president. “However, members have a protected right to discuss any issues related to their union and their working conditions, within the context of what members are doing to address those issues. What could be more central than the scope of the medical coverage employees receive?”

Alongside concerns about diminishing rights, many of the Guild’s journalist members have expressed concern about their ability to speak openly about abortion access without being penalized by management for engaging publicly on a so-called “partisan issue.” When the draft decision was leaked, some employers sent notices asking people to refrain from tweeting about the decision. The federal National Labor Relations Act gives most private-sector workers the right to unionize and take collective action, including protecting the right of workers to speak publicly about their working conditions.
United Automobile, Aerospace, And Agricultural Implement Workers (UAW)
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By disavowing a well-established right, the U.S. Supreme Court has also put everyone on notice that nothing is safe or secure. Elections have consequences, and we are seeing that bear out in front of our eyes. The political agenda of the far-right is now the template of juris prudence and that means the rights to join a union and collectively bargain for good wages, benefits, and safe working conditions are less secure today than they were yesterday.
United Electrical, Radio And Machine Workers Of America (UE)
UPDATE: On Friday, June 24, The Supreme Court Officially Released A Decision Overturning Roe V. Wade, Which Conforms In All Important Ways To The Leaked Decision Condemned By The UE Officers In This Statement.

We condemn unequivocally the draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade that was leaked on May 2. It is an indefensible attack on the right of women and pregnant people to control their own bodies, one of the most fundamental of liberties. Furthermore, the leaked draft opinion, which overturns a half century of settled law, signals that this unelected group of six right-wing justices sees none of our rights as untouchable.

UE policy, approved overwhelming by elected rank-and-file delegates at our 77th Convention in September, “Supports the right of all those seeking reproductive healthcare, regardless of economic status, to choose whether to continue or terminate a pregnancy, to have access to free, confidential, and effective birth control and family planning services, to be protected against forced sterilization, and not be discriminated against because of reproductive health issues.”

Laws that criminalize abortion do not reduce its frequency, they merely make reproductive health care more expensive and dangerous, with the burden falling disproportionately on working-class women and women of color. Without the right to control their own bodies, women will face increased barriers to participating fully in society, including in their unions. Without the full participation of women, the unity that is essential to winning gains for workers and the working class will be weakened. As UE policy notes, “Until women have full and equal rights, all workers are held back.”

The attack on reproductive rights is being waged, cynically and hypocritically, by politicians who know that they and their families will always be able to access reproductive health care, and who regularly invoke “freedom from government intrusion” as a reason to oppose pro-worker legislation. Their aim is not to protect “life,” but to create cover for a pro-corporate political agenda that is unpopular with voters. Those who campaign most vociferously against women’s reproductive rights also refuse to support universal healthcare and paid family leave, and are some of the labor movement’s bitterest enemies.

In his draft opinion, Justice Alito argues that only those rights commonly understood to exist in 1868, when the 14th Amendment was ratified, have constitutional standing. Alito specifically notes that constitutional rights to contraception, same-sex and interracial marriage, and freedom from government intrusion into our bedrooms do not meet this criteria. His claim could just as easily be used to justify undermining New Deal legislation establishing labor rights, the minimum wage, and Social Security — all of which were challenged as unconstitutional in the 1930s and survived only after massive outcry and widespread strikes convinced the court to change its mind.

This draft decision is also a product of some of the most undemocratic features of our political system, and of some of the most unethical political machinations in recent history. Three of the six justices joining the majority opinion were appointed by a president who did not win the popular vote, and two of those were confirmed by the votes of senators who collectively represent fewer Americans than the senators who voted against confirmation.

The blatant use of the Supreme Court to further a right-wing political agenda is a threat to all of our rights, including the rights of LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, people of color, and all workers. It must be met by militant, collective action by working people and our allies, and by a demand to bring greater accountability to the least democratic branch of our government. UE stands with all those who are being attacked by this likely Supreme Court decision, and with all people who may come under attack in any future decisions by what has become a dangerously undemocratic institution.
United Farm Workers (UFW)

We want to recognize the heavy emotions faced by our communities in the United States given the recent news of the Supreme Court overturning Roe. V. Wade.

These issues cut across age, race, gender, and socio-economic status – and most certainly will have a wide impact on immigrant communities who already face barriers to health care. You may never know who this impacts, often a friend or family member who may be too afraid to ask for help or share their story. It is fundamental that our communities have access to the healthcare they need.

Israeli Live-Fire Military Training In Masafer Yatta Is Ongoing

https://popularresistance.org/israeli-live-fire-military-training-in-masafer-yatta-is-ongoing/






By Stop The Wall.

July 1, 2022
Educate!


For a week, Israeli soldiers along with their guns, bulldozers, military jeeps, tanks and helicopters have been invading Palestinian villages in Masafer Yatta. This is part of the live-fire military training that has started on June 21, 2022 and will last for two more weeks.

The Israeli army’s military training is being carried out in the villages of Jinba, Al-Markez and Al-Majaz. The three villages are among the eight located in what Israel classifies as Firing Zone 918. On May 4, 2022, Israel’s Supreme Court issued a decision to ethnically cleanse Palestinians living in the eight villages, who number over 1000 people.

According to local residents, the military training has badly affected their daily lives. Residents of the villages are no longer able to graze their herds as the military training is being carried out on their grazing land. Movement of people inside and outside the villages is highly restricted as the Israeli army has set up military tents between Palestinian homes.

At the entrance of the three villages, there has been a constant presence of Israeli soldiers who limit the access of Palestinians from neighboring villages and towns to the affected villages. In other words, Jinba, Al-Markez and Al-Majaz are under a three-week siege. The life of people, who have refused to leave their homes, and their animals is at risk. Israeli soldiers conducting the training keep shooting live fire in areas that are only a few meters away from Palestinian homes.

The last time the Israeli army held a military training of this kind in these villages was twenty years ago. Conducting an army training in the area less than two months after the court ruling in favor of the forcible expulsion of more than 1000 Palestinians is part of Israeli enforcement of the court decision.

The military training is compounded with other measures to squeeze Palestinians out of their homes. This includes home demolition and the fortification of the Apartheid Wall in the area.



To support the steadfastness of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, join in the Masafer Yatta World Tour here.