Statement from Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights:
This has been a wrenching week in the United States as the violence of racism has again captured national attention. For people of color in America, and in particular African Americans, this is the reality they face every day. The events in Minneapolis and New York City—like too many others before—make clear that racial oppression and violence viciously endure in this country.
We stand in solidarity with all those fighting for racial justice in condemning the killing of George Floyd. We cannot accept his senseless death, nor those of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade and so many others.
The weight of race discrimination pervades not only police use of excessive force against black communities, but in every aspect of American life - housing, voting, education, employment, and health. And as our partners in the Reproductive Justice movement have shown, structural racism impacts every aspect of a person’s reproductive experience from quality prenatal and pregnancy care to parenting children in safe and sustainable communities to access to abortion care.
We, at the Center for Reproductive Rights, vow to work to eradicate racial inequities and ensure that the human rights and inherent worth and dignity of every person is valued, protected, and affirmed.
