It’s OK to boo. But it’s best to also vote.
If the court indeed overturns the landmark case, the Obamas write, it “will relegate probably the most intensely personal decision someone could make to the whims of politicians and ideologues.”
“The results of this decision can be a blow not simply to women,” they note, “but to all of us who imagine that in a free society, there are limits to how much the federal government can encroach on our personal lives.”
As a substitute of truly reducing abortions, the Obamas’ statement points out, overturning Roe would force individuals with the means to achieve this to travel out of state for the procedure.
“Meanwhile,” they write, “those without enough money or access to transportation or ability to take off from school or work would face the identical circumstances most ladies faced before Roe, desperately searching for out illegal abortions that inevitably pose grave risks to their health, their future ability to bear children, and sometimes their lives.”
To those that are indignant and frustrated, the Obamas closed with a call to motion: Join a protest alongside the activists who’ve been sounding the alarm on this for years; volunteer on a campaign; and, perhaps most critically, vote on this upcoming election and each one after.
“In the long run,” they write, “if we wish judges who will protect all, and never just a few, of our rights, then we’ve got to elect officials committed to doing the identical.”
