NLN Strongly Objects to Supreme Court Decision to Overturn Roe v. Wade, Jeopardizing Public Health

The 1973 landmark ruling has for decades constitutionally protected a woman’s right, within specified legal parameters, to choose to have an abortion, wherever she may live and whatever her economic means to access reproductive care, and independent of the personal circumstances surrounding her decision. 

The Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, determining that control of abortion properly lies within the purview of states’ rights versus federal mandate, goes well beyond negating an individual’s right to choose. With multiple states poised to legislate to eliminate or severely restrict abortion access and potentially hold abortion providers criminally liable, the result will inevitably be a patchwork of laws that will disproportionately negatively impact people of color and those on the economic margins of society, including rural Americans who already travel great distances for medical care.

As a staunch advocate for safeguarding and advancing public health and vocal supporter of universal access to health care, the National League for Nursing strongly objects to the court’s reversal of longstanding precedent. The League believes this creates a direct threat to the physical and mental health and welfare of women, families, and communities already facing significant and grave challenges. 

To restrict or eliminate access to safe, legal abortion will force countless women, teens and other birth givers who lack the resources to travel to states where abortion is legal to carry a pregnancy to term, regardless of their circumstances or the circumstances of pregnancy, such as, in many cases, rape, incest, or domestic violence. 

The resulting health inequity can only exacerbate crises of public health traced directly to social determinants of health that the National League for Nursing has pledged to help eradicate wherever possible and at the very least mitigate, promoting universal access to culturally sensitive, competent health care and educational initiatives to maximize diversity and inclusion in nursing education and at all levels of the nation’s health care system.

The National League for Nursing strongly objects to this ruling that will result in significant harm to Americans seeking the health care they need.