National Nurses United

14 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G A P R I L | M AY | J U N E 2 0 2 2 NATIONAL R egistered nurses understand that abortion is a basic health care service, and as a union of health care providers dedicated to advo- cating 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 excep- tion, the right to end a pregnancy, that targets only people with reproductive capac- ity, is not only bad health policy, it is immoral, discriminatory, misogynist, vio- lent, unacceptable, and violates the nursing ethics we nurses pledge to uphold. The Supreme Court's overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling 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 June decision is part of a coordi- nated right-wing 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 deci- sion 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 com- pletely unacceptable to single out this one health care service, that's only needed by peo- ple who can get pregnant, as illegal. We nurses have a duty to always advocate for our patients, and that's exactly what we'll con- tinue 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 constitu- tional 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 with- out 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 vio- lently 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, interra- cial 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 jus- tice, 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 NNU condemns Supreme Court's overturning of constitutional right to abortion NEWS BRIEFS

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