In response to the draft opinion leak that revealed the Supreme Court’s plan to overturn Roe vs. Wade, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot shared plans to support reproductive rights. During a press conference earlier this week, she announced the “Justice For All Pledge” and $500,000 that will go toward increasing access to health services for women including abortion.
“The moment has to be a call to arms and I call upon all people of good will at this moment to make sure you are investing in the organizations that are on the front line,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot stated. The funds would support lodging, transportation, care “and, if necessary, safe and legal access to an abortion procedure,” her office explained in a statement.
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It also expressed the Chicago’s plan to “be a safe haven for all who are unjustly denied the resources and opportunities they deserve.” The pledge intentionally refers to how Black women in Chicago experience higher rates of maternal and infant mortality which is also a national problem.
Shortly after the leak was confirmed, President Joe Biden also vowed to support women. “I believe that a woman’s right to choose is fundamental, Roe has been the law of our land for almost fifty years, and basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that it not be overturned,” Biden said in a statement.
Vice President Kamala Harris also chimed in. “Roe ensures a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion. It also, at its root, protects the fundamental right to privacy. What is clear is that opponents of Roe want to punish women and take away their rights to make decisions about their own bodies,” she said.
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