On the Decision to Overturn Roe v. Wade

By Rebecca Masisak and Marnie Webb, TechSoup

Rebecca Masisak is CEO and Marnie Webb is Chief Community Impact Officer of TechSoup. TechSoup is the leader and founder of the TechSoup Global Network.

On Friday, June 24, the United States Supreme Court voted to overturn 50 years of precedent and curtail the rights of millions of Americans, threatening equity for all people across society. The impact of this change will be greater for people who have fewer financial and other resources. We do not support a decision that makes millions of people more vulnerable by curtailing their rights.

We believe that the expansion and protection of rights allows for choice. This is critical in the sphere of our own health and the future of our families: We have the right to make our own decisions, rather than to have them made for us.

We believe the right of choice allows inclusive access to a better future for all.

Darren Walker, on behalf of the Ford Foundation, writes:

… [W]e believe that every woman, every person, has a human right to determine their own destiny and to shape their family and future with privacy, dignity, and autonomy. The ability of individuals to choose when and whether to have children — and to make personal health decisions without interference from the state — underpins not only reproductive justice, but the freedom to pursue their full potential.

Indeed, without reproductive justice and gender equality, there can be no economic justice, no racial justice, LGBTQ+, or disability justice. In other words, reproductive freedom is essential to freedom everywhere.

As we saw yet again, progress is not a relentless forward motion.

In all its starts and stalls and heartbreaking reversals, progress comes because civil society holds open the space for democracy to flourish. As a capacity-building organization, we support groups of all types with varied beliefs, with diverse points of view. We support these organizations as they make choices about their technology, protect the data of their community members, and use digital solutions to collaborate and hold the hard, messy conversations that are necessary for democracy to flourish.

We are here to support civil society organizations and play our part in building the equity we know is essential.