YWCA Statement on Texas Law S.B. 8

On September 1, 2021, a Texas law (S.B. 8) that bars abortions at six weeks went into effect after the Supreme Court and a federal appeals court failed to rule on pending emergency requests brought by abortion providers. YWCA USA Interim CEO and COO Elisha Rhodes has issued the following statement in response:“We are devastated that the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to block a law that blatantly violates constitutional rights established under Roe v. Wade. The Texas law will significantly impair women’s ability to determine their future, particularly for communities of color, individuals with low incomes, and people in rural areas who already face barriers to health care access.YWCA has been at the forefront of the most pressing social issues for more than 160 years—from voting rights to civil rights, from affordable housing to pay equity, from violence prevention to health care reform. Guided by our powerful mission to empower women and eliminate racism, YWCA has and will continue to boldly do the work to secure rights that are essential to the pursuit of gender, racial, economic, and reproductive justice. We call on our nation’s highest court to take action immediately and stop the implementation of Texas SB8. Failure to do so has detrimental impacts to on a woman’s right to choose, her ability to access care, and her fundamental right to equality.”