Megan Rapinoe among more than 500 athletes supporting abortion rights
More than 500 women athletes, coaches and sports associations, including football star Megan Rapinoe and WNBA All-Star Sue Bird, on Monday signed a formal appeal urging the United States Supreme Court to protect abortion rights.
The repository called amicus memory argues that the right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade of 1973 is essential for female athletes to be able to practice their sports at the same level as men. The group of 514 signatories includes Diana Taurasi of the WNBA, Olympic gold medalist water polo goaltender Ashleigh Johnson, WNBPA and NWSLPA, player unions for the WNBA and NWSL.
The group referred to collectively as the Amici athlete includes 26 Olympians, 73 professional athletes and 276 varsity athletes.
“Friends depend on the right to control their bodies and reproductive lives in order to reach their athletic potential,” the brief read. “Indeed, the Amici are united in their belief that the physical consequences of pregnancy and forced childbirth would undermine the ability of athletes to realize their full human potential.”
Brief addresses of a Mississippi-backed bid to overthrow Roe v. Wade
The brief was filed in response to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, an attempt to end legal abortion in Mississippi after 15 weeks, supported by the state’s Republican-led legislature. He seeks to directly overthrow Roe v. Wade and to return control of abortion law to individual states.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch has argued in court that Supreme Court rulings in Roe v. Wade and the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey asserted the right to abortion are “extremely false”. The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in the case from December 1.
Texas ruling raises the stakes for choice supporters
The The Supreme Court’s August decision staying silent on a controversial Texas law banning abortion after 15 weeks and allowing private citizens to sue abortion providers and anyone else involved in facilitating an abortion has heightened the urgency for choice advocates around of the Mississippi Affair.
It was the first major reproductive rights decision since former President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court review, which appointed Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, establishing the current Conservative majority of 6 -3 of the Court. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump has repeatedly promised to appoint only pro-life judges.
“Female athletes must have the power to decide”
Monday’s filing argues the Roe and Casey decisions are critical for female athletes to pursue their careers.
“Pregnancy fundamentally transforms a woman’s body, impacting and potentially hindering an athlete’s access to higher education, elite competition and a professional athletic career,” the file says. “Female athletes must have the power to decide whether and when to dedicate their bodies to athletics, pregnancy, or both.
“Denying an athlete control of her body could jeopardize her competitive career and violate Roe deer and CaseyThe basic guarantee of “the fate of women must be shaped to a large extent on their own conception of their spiritual imperatives and their place in society”.
The case also argued for the greater societal benefits offered by the assertion of reproductive rights for female athletes.
“Participation in sports generates a myriad of benefits for girls, women and society in general,” the file says. “Sports participation is associated with positive academic outcomes, including better attendance, higher grades, fewer disciplinary issues, a greater desire to go to college, and higher enrollment rates for advanced internships.
“Girls who play sports are more confident, have better self-esteem and a better body image. These trends are “particularly striking among girls from minority groups, who appear to experience greater social and economic mobility, greater self-confidence and even more personality. safety if they have played sports.
A Supreme Court ruling on the Mississippi case is expected by next summer.
