<p class=xmsonormal><strong>June 24 2022.</strong> DignityUSA stands with the majority of U.S. Catholics who believe that access to safe and legal abortion along with the entire range of reproductive health services should be affirmed in our federal public policy. It is appalling to us that so many Catholic leaders have worked so long and devoted so much money to claiming a religious justification for denying the right to essential health care for so many and in particular to control the reproductive lives of women and other people who could become pregnant. We reject every effort to impose a minority religious view on a diverse nation.</p><p class=xmsonormal>Undercutting Roe v. Wade will have far-reaching implications and as usual it is impoverished people especially women and their children who will suffer the most. While our immediate concern is for those whose lives will be impacted by this specific ruling we also note with alarm the other hard-won rights that even Supreme Court justices themselves acknowledge are now vulnerable. These include the rights to privacy and marriage equality granted in the <i>Lawrence</i> and <i>Obergefell </i>decisions along with rights such as interracial marriage and access to contraception. We pledge to keep working toward what we believe to be the real demands of the Gospel and teachings of our Church: ending oppressive systems that diminish the human dignity of any of Gods people.</p><p class=xmsonormal><em>&nbsp;Marianne Duddy-Burke Executive Director DignityUSA</em></p>