7 Jul 2022

Abortion advocates push back against Roe v Wade ruling

From First Up, 5:33 am on 7 July 2022

In the United States, supporters of reproductive rights are mobilising en masse to fight back against the Supreme Court's ruling that abortion is not a constitutional right. As many as 26 states could ultimately criminalise the procedure, with eight having already introduced bans and others following suit in the coming days and weeks. In Mississippi, in less than 12 hours from now, abortion will become a felony crime with women and non-binary people who get the procedure -- and any physician who performs it -- liable to heavy fines and lengthy prison sentences. But the Mississippi's pro-choice activists are vowing to keep up the fight. One of them is Michelle Colón, who's executive director of Sisters Helping Every Woman Rise and Organize or SHERo which advocates for reproductive rights and helps connect people of colour with abortion services I asked how she and her colleagues reacted when they first heard news of the Supreme Court's decision.