Athletes react to the court’s ruling on abortion in the U.S
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a joint statement that the leagues
“think women should be able to make their own decisions when it comes to their health and future, and we believe freedom should be protected.”
“We will continue to advocate for gender and health equity, including by ensuring that our employees will have access to reproductive health care, wherever they are,” they added.
Rapinoe is in Colorado, where the defenders of the last two world championships will face Colombia. As a gay woman, she spoke about the fear that the conservative court would seek to strip her of her rights.
“We live in a country that constantly tries to erode what you innately own, what you have had the privilege of feeling all your life.”
U.S. women’s soccer team star Megan Rapinoe expressed anger at the Supreme Court ruling that struck down constitutional protection of abortion, deploring the erosion of rights won by women of the previous generation.
“I think the essential thing is cruelty, because it’s not pro-life, in any way,” said Rapinoe, who repeatedly held back tears as she expressed outrage.
Several of the country’s leading sports figures publicly expressed their discouragement, anger and dismay at the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion.
NBA Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James tweeted that the essence of the ruling was “power and control” and retweeted several messages about how it would affect black women.
