STATEMENT ADDRESSING SUPREME COURT DECISION TO OVERTURN ROE V. WADE

PROFESSIONAL DIMENSIONS OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (OOTP)
June 27, 2022

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Furious. Frightened. Uncertain. Disbelieving. Heartbroken.

Reactions to Friday’s Supreme Court ruling taking away the constitutional right to an abortion have exploded across the country--and in the PD office. We have heard from members—and from friends, sisters, mothers, grandmothers, aunts—from the depth of their fear and fury. 

Our mothers and grandmothers founded PD with the hope of equal rights for women at work and at home. Today, one of those rights has been taken away in the State of Wisconsin. This will affect all women but will fall disproportionately on women of color and others marginalized in our state.

The 1973 Roe decision was a seminal moment in the advancement of women’s progress. For many women, this measure of control over their own bodies made it possible to protect and maintain their physical health. It empowered women to fulfill their dreams of education, of economic independence, of freedom from abusive relationships, and so much more.  

We acknowledge that there may be PD members who  agree with the Supreme Court decision to let this question be decided state-by-state, election-by-election. As an organization whose vision is to expand what is possible for women and the world they influence, we hope that all PD members can see the setback that the return to an 1849 abortion ban represents for our progress in Wisconsin toward gender and racial justice. And, with our mission to unite women leaders in the relentless pursuit of better, we are responsible for continuing this conversation - as difficult as it may be - as we determine how to support the needs of ALL women who make up our membership.

In the months ahead, our board of directors will look for opportunities to educate our members and to identify how we can engage as citizens, as women, as activists and educators, to protect and advance women. 

We close, as always, with gratitude—not for the Supreme Court decision, but for the collective power of women, specifically PD women, to rise up against inequity and sexism in our world and in our workplaces. PD was built from that power, and PD today can connect women to each other in the fight for a better future.

As Michelle Obama said on Friday, “We may be heartbroken now but tomorrow we have to get up and find the courage to keep working towards creating the more just America we all deserve.”

We will be in touch,

Laura Lutter Cole 
President, Professional Dimensions

Lauryn Deck
President-Elect, Professional Dimensions

Jamie Pratt
Immediate Past President, Professional Dimensions

Lauren Feaster
CEO, Professional Dimensions