Resolution in Support of Women’s Reproductive Rights and Bodily Autonomy

Resolution Number: RS22-434

May, 2022

Whereas:

the Supreme Court of the United States appears poised to strike down Roe v. Wade; and

Whereas:

comprehensive abortion care is included in the list of essential health care services published by the World Health Organization in 2020 ; and

Whereas:

according to the World Health Organization, “[l]ack of access to safe, affordable, timely and respectful abortion care, and the stigma associated with abortion, pose risks to women’s physical and mental well-being throughout the life-course. Inaccessibility of quality abortion care risks violating a range of human rights of women and girls, including the right to life; the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; the right to benefit from scientific progress and its realization; the right to decide freely and responsibly on the number, spacing and timing of children; and the right to be free from torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment” ; and

Whereas:

Governor Gavin Newsom has pledged to protect women’s right to safe and legal abortion in California in an official statement ; and

Whereas:

the California Future of Abortion Council, convened by Governor Newsom in September 2020, predicts that the number of women traveling to California from other states to seek safe and legal abortion will increase 2923% (from 46,000 to 1.4 million) in the case of a total ban ; and

Whereas:

California branches of Planned Parenthood are already reporting drastic increases in the number of women traveling from Texas, Oklahoma and other states that have recently reduced access to legal abortion ; and

Whereas:

lack of reproductive health care including abortion disproportionately affects women of color ; and

Whereas:

San Francisco State University is committed to the health, safety and well-being of its community members and of the public; be it therefore

Resolved:

that the Academic Senate opposes the overturning of Roe v. Wade; and be it further

Resolved:

that the Academic Senate opposes any effort to deprive women of the right to reproductive freedom or the right to bodily autonomy; and be it further

Resolved:

that this resolution be distributed to President Mahoney and the President’s Cabinet, the Academic Senate of CSU, the CSU Board of Trustees, the CSU Chancellor’s Office, the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, the President and Vice President of the United States, the United States Senators of California, the United States Representatives of California, California State Senators, California State Assembly Members, the Mayor of San Francisco, and The San Francisco Board of Supervisors.