Sports stars across the United States reacted with shock and anger on Friday at the Supreme Court’s decision to abolish abortion rights after nearly five decades.
WNBA players and teams led a chorus of outrage over the seismic decision, which could result in abortion becoming illegal in nearly half of the U.S. 50 states.
The WNBA noted that the conservative-leaning Supreme Court’s abortion decision came just a day after another bombshell ruling that ruled that Americans have the right to carry a handgun in public.
“Are we in a democracy where guns have more rights than women?” asked the WNBA statement.
“This decision shows a branch of government that has lost touch with the country and any sense of human dignity.”
The league said the decision would create a “treacherous path” to abortion bans that “reinforce economic, social and political inequalities.”
Many WNBA players and teams took to social media to express their anger over the decision.
WNBA icon and five-time Olympic gold medalist Sue Bird simply wrote, “Eviscerated.”
Birds club, the Seattle Storm, meanwhile, declared themselves “enraged and ready to fight”.
“People have gained the freedom to buy guns with impunity, while women have lost the freedom to choose their own future,” the storm wrote on Twitter.
Los Angeles Sparks star Lexie Brown added: “How did we get here? So much is happening in this country and that’s what they want to focus on. It’s really frightening.”
– ‘cruelty is the point’ –
US women’s soccer icon Megan Rapinoe addressed reporters in comments about her sadness ahead of an international match against Colombia this weekend. Her voice cracked with emotion.
“It’s hard to put into words what a sad day this is,” Rapinoe said. “I just can’t stress enough how sad and cruel this is.
“The cruelty is the point, because this is by no means pro-life.
“It’s going to totally exacerbate so many of the existing inequalities that we have in our country. The right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness and liberty are being attacked in this case.”
Rapinoe, who is gay, said she also fears that the U.S. Constitution’s constitutional protections for same-sex marriages would eventually be in jeopardy.
“We live in a country that’s forever trying to deplete what you inherently have, what you’ve been privileged to have all your life,” Rapinoe said.
US tennis legend Billie Jean King, who wrote in her memoir All In about her harrowing experience seeking an abortion in the days before it became law in the United States, said Friday’s verdict “will do not stop abortion”.
“What will end it is safe and legal access to this vital medical procedure,” King wrote on Twitter. “It’s a sad day for the United States.”
King’s tennis colleague Martina Navratilova simply said, “The March to Gilead is here,” in reference to the novel and television drama The Handmaid’s Tale, which depicts a dystopian future in which women are subjugated and enslaved by men.
Several male sports stars also spoke out against the decision.
NBA icon LeBron James said on Twitter that the decision was “absolutely about power and control.”
Seattle Sounders goaltender Stefan Frei also contrasted the ruling with the gun control court’s decision a day earlier.
“Enforce a constitutional right to the concealed carrying of firearms and end basic constitutional protections of reproductive rights the next day!? Our country is actively moving in the wrong direction,” Frei wrote on Twitter.
“What’s next? This is crazy.”
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