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The WNBA and players reacted this week to a leaked Supreme Court decision draft that would potentially overrule Roe v. Wade.
The league released a statement on the matter Wednesday night.
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The WNBA celebrates its 25th year as a league with a logo on the court on June 24, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. (Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
“The WNBA believes all women have the right to autonomy over their bodies and fair and equal access to health care,” the statement read. “We will continue to support and advocate for women and their personal decisions regarding their health. We must also act to protect women’s rights, and elections have consequences. That is why civic engagement and voting rights will remain a focus as we tip off the 2022 WNBA season.”
The Atlanta Dream put out a statement on Tuesday.
“We at the Atlanta Dream fundamentally support the right for a woman to make decisions over her own body,” the organization said.
“If Roe v. Wade is overturned, it will harm women and, disproportionally, marginalized communities. We vow to continue to uplift the voices of women and girls, as well as members of the Atlanta community.”
Washington Mystics forward Tianna Hawkins was among the players reacting to the leaked draft.
“I don’t think there’s ever a situation where someone who is not yourself should say, ‘Oh, well, you can’t keep your baby,’ or, ‘You should keep your baby,’ or stuff like that… you should have the freedom to do that,” Hawkins, who has a 6-year-old son, said Tuesday, via The Washington Post.
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“What if you want to conceive, and then the doctor says at early stages there is a deformity or something like that? You’re telling me if I want to save my child from struggling or pain and stuff like that, I have to bring him into this world and just let him suffer and die, and not do it early on?”
Natasha Cloud, who’s also on the Mystics, also reacted in tweets.
Natasha Cloud of the Mystics during the Minnesota Lynx game on Sept. 19, 2021, at Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington. (Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images)
“The Constitution was written by white men. For white men,” she wrote in one tweet.
“America is NOT pro life. They’re pro birth. We still pay women less than men. Not every woman has access to health care. … America is forcing women to birth children they wont help care for,” she added.
The Supreme Court issued a response to the report of a draft opinion that, if published, would overturn Roe v. Wade, with Chief Justice John Roberts strongly condemning the leak to the press.
In a brief message, the court acknowledged that the leaked document is indeed real, while noting that it is just a draft and that the court has not issued a final decision on the matter.
“Justices circulate draft opinions internally as a routine and essential part of the Court’s confidential deliberative work. Although the document described in yesterday’s reports is authentic, it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case,” the court said.
A crowd of people gather outside the Supreme Court, Monday night, May 2, 2022, in Washington following reports of a leaked draft opinion by the court overturning Roe v. Wade. (AP Photo/Anna Johnson)
Roberts, in his own statement accompanying the court’s press release, announced that he has called upon the Marshal of the Court to investigate the situation and find the source who leaked the document to Politico. Roberts also spoke out against the notion that the leak could succeed as a political maneuver to influence the outcome of the case.
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Politico first reported the draft leak.
Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.
