Redwood City – Community leaders gathered this morning in Courthouse Square to support women’s health care on the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that overturned the right to an abortion.
“Today, all across America, there are protests. There are strikes. There are marches all recognizing the loss of freedom and rights for women,” Warren Slocum, president of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, said at a rally and news conference.
The event was organized and hosted by Slocum, Supervisor Dave Pine and Assemblymember Diane Papan, D-21. About 40 local leaders gathered on the courthouse steps, many holding signs, “My Body My Choice” and “We Won’t Go Back,” in English and Spanish.
Reproductive rights rallies are being held throughout the United States today, two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade that guaranteed a woman’s constitutional right to abortion. The case that overturned Roe, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, ended federal protection of reproductive rights, leaving states to set their own laws regarding abortion.
To highlight the County’s commitment to reproductive rights and women’s health care, Slocum, along with Pine and Supervisor Noelia Corzo, presented a $1 million check to Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, which operates three clinics in San Mateo County. The oversized check was symbolic but the $1 million is real, making good on a promise to ensure women have access to high-quality, local reproductive health care.
The Dobbs decision, speakers said, highlights the need for local governments to take action when the institutions individuals have relied upon for decades fail to protect rights many have taken for granted.
Over the past two years, for instance, the Board of Supervisors has:
- Joined an amicus brief (“friend of the court” brief) urging the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case that eliminated the constitutional right to abortion after almost 50 years.
- Passed a resolution, unanimously, expressing the Board’s “unwavering commitment to women’s reproductive freedom and health care privacy.”
- Approved the Women’s Reproductive Freedom and Healthcare Privacy Action Plan to provide financial support for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte to deliver increased abortion care; consider a buffer zone ordinance for the unincorporated areas of the county; develop an advocacy agenda; establish the Reproductive Rights and Healthcare Privacy Subcommittee, and launch an information campaign to let patients know that San Mateo County Health continues to offer reproductive services.
Slocum pledged to continue to fight for women’s health care and reproductive rights by working with advocates and elected officials.
“By unanimously approving a resolution affirming San Mateo County’s commitment to unwavering support for women’s health care freedom and reproductive privacy,” Slocum said, “the Board of Supervisors literally spelled out our values.”
Michelle Durand
Chief Communications Officer
mdurand@smcgov.org