Opinion: Silicon Valley must fight for the rights of women
When you push women down, you push our entire society down.
The six Supreme Court justices who overturned of Roe v. Wade after half a century have just told 50% of America that we do not have the right to control our own bodies, and that we are not trusted to make the best decisions for ourselves and our families.
Even worse than that, these six justices have told 50% of America that we do not have an equal place in America.
This decision lays bare what has been right in front of us for decades: the effort to end legal abortion, over the opposition of the clear majority of Americans who support abortion rights, is just one part of a larger battle to restrict the rights of women and limit what a woman can be in our society.
The people who have fought for decades to restrict women’s rights are not going to stop with abortion. In March, Republican Sen.Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee called Griswold v. Connecticut, the 1965 Supreme Court decision that guaranteed a right to use birth control, “constitutionally unsound.” Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the decision overturning Roe, also authored the 2014 decision, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, that allowed businesses to refuse to provide health coverage for contraception if they have a religious or moral objection to it. These are just two examples of the ways that abortion opponents have been telegraphing their next move. There are many more.
The consequences of repealing Roe are immediate. It has made abortion illegal in almost all circumstances in the 13 states that have previously passed “trigger laws” that take effect immediately upon the decision’s repeal. Horrifyingly, in eight of those states there are not even exceptions for cases of rape or incest.
The consequences of this larger effort to limit a woman’s place in our society are enormous. When you push women down, you push our entire society down, you push working families down, you push children into poverty.
In Silicon Valley, and throughout California, this effort has not been a concern until now. Here, diversity is seen as a strength. Abortion rights and the rights and role of women are guaranteed by numerous laws.
However, while California will become a sanctuary in a post-Roe world, we must not become an island.
We can no longer allow our status as a state where these vital rights are secure to become complacency and an excuse to ignore what is going on elsewhere in our country.
Because the U.S. Congress can overturn abortion rights nationally.
Abortions will not end with the overturning of Roe. Across the country thousands of women and teen girls will end up in the hospital or dead because of an illegal abortion.
We have to fight for our rights, for the rights and health of those women and girls, and for the rights of all women in the United States.
We have to use our voices, our time, and our wallets to support candidates for office who support the rights of women, including our right to control our own bodies, and causes that protect the civil rights of our entire community.
We have to have sometimes uncomfortable conversations with our families and friends, particularly those who live outside of California: Are you registered to vote? Are you voting in every election? Because school boards and city councils are just as critical as the senate and presidency.
Voting happens once or twice a year but in this fight we need to make our voice heard every day, not just on Election Day.
I will be standing up and fighting to support women.
Will you stand with me?
Cindy Chavez represents District 2 on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.