Recently, many members of our communities have heard that the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v Wade. This, effectively, establishes that there is no constitutional right to abortion in the US. While this does not absolutely ban abortion in every American context – several states continue to protect abortion through state laws – it does mean that several states will be able to effectively ban abortion, with tremendous consequences for the sexual health and reproductive rights of women and people with uteruses.
While you are in Australia, which generally protects the right to abortion (though it may be hard to access, especially for women and people with uteruses who have intersectional identities and experiences), you may be disheartened by the US Supreme Court decision and quite scared. It is completely normal to feel this way; many may be quite scared that this could happen in Australia, and some may find that they will be in the US at some point. Some may wonder whether this means countries may try to stem other fundamental rights, for women, queer folk, people with disability, people with diverse backgrounds, and others.
SUPRA supports the rights of women and people with uteruses to access abortion. We are disappointed with the US Supreme Court decision, and are working hard in NSW to improve access to services for women, non-binary and gender diverse people, in university spaces, and to make these spaces human-affirming and safe. We will work with diverse equity groups to ensure that our futures are safe, humanitarian, equitable, and egalitarian. We call on the University to provide abortion education, share information of services in Sydney and Australia to our communities, and affirm that access to abortion is a human rights issue.
If you would like further information on abortion in New South Wales, read our articles: Abortion rights in NSW and Contraception, abortion, and giving birth. You can also contact your GP, visit NSW Health or Pregnancy Choices Helpline. If you are interested in abortion counselling, find more information about counselling before or after an abortion. For sexual health and contraception information for trans, non-binary and gender diverse people, visit Transhub.
Find multi-language support resources, or call Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 131 450 and ask them to connect you to Pregnancy Choices Helpline for professional help.
To access the Pregnancy Choices Helpline through the National Relay Service (for deaf people):
- Call 133 677 for Teletypewriter (TTY)
- Text 0423 677 767 for SMS relay.
If you would like to reach out to our Women’s Officer, Vivian Bai, you can email her at: women@supra.usyd.edu.au.
Signed,
SUPRA Council
Composed by Joseph Black, Vivian Bai, and edited by councillors.
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