Megan Rapinoe was not originally scheduled to speak to the media Friday before the US women’s national soccer team faced Colombia in a friendly match in Colorado.
Then the Supreme Court decision that eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, overturning Roe v. Wade and five decades of protections, was announced.
So Rapinoe did what she does best. The two-time World Cup champion passionately delivered a nine-minute speech about how the decision will impact all corners of society and then answered questions about the various human rights “under attack.”
“It’s hard to put into words how sad a day this is for me personally, for my teammates, for just all of the people out there who this is going to affect,” Rapinoe said.
“Pro-choice means you get to choose,” she added. “Pro-choice allows other people to be pro-life if that’s what works for them or that is what their beliefs are or that’s where they’re at in their life. Pro-life doesn’t allow anybody to make a choice.”
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The 2019 Ballon d’Or Féminin winner noted her own privilege as a cisgender, wealthy, white woman. She said she knows this decision won’t be as bad for her compared to women – trans and non-binary included – who are less fortunate.
“We know that this will disproportionately affect poor women, Black women, brown women, immigrants, women in abusive relationships, women who have been raped, women and girls who have been raped by family members, (women) who, you know what, maybe just didn’t make the best choice.
“It will completely exacerbate so many of the existing inequalities that we have in our country. It doesn’t keep not one single person safer. It doesn’t keep not one single child safer, certainly. And it does not keep one single, inclusive term, woman safer.”
The decision will not stop women from having abortions, Rapinoe reiterated, a point made across society Friday. Simply, “safe abortions” would no longer be the norm, she said.
“I think the cruelty is the point,” Rapinoe, 36, said.
Rapinoe continued: “The right to freedom and the pursuit of happiness and liberty is being assaulted in this instance.”
“To have the entirety of the US government say to people’s faces, say to women’s faces, ‘We do not care. We are going to force our belief system – which is deeply rooted in a white supremacist, patriarchal, Christianity – we are going to force that upon you.’
“First of all, your religion is a choice and it is a belief that you have. It is not my belief, and it is not many people’s beliefs, and it certainly is not the law of the land and it certainly – in the context of Roe v Wade – is not the will of the country.”
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Rapinoe also criticized the six justices, five of whom are male, who ruled in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade.
“The makeup of the Court is ill equipped to handle this type of decision,” she said. “Frankly, a majority-male court making decisions about my body or any other woman’s body is completely misguided and wildly out of touch with the desires of the country, the will of the country and the will of people. I think (the Supreme Court is) acting incredibly irresponsibly and inappropriately.”
Rapinoe knows that the court won’t stop there. Voting rights, gay rights and trans rights are next, she warned. (Rapinoe identifies as gay and is engaged to WNBA star Sue Bird.)
“I absolutely think gay rights are under attack,” she said. “I absolutely think we will see legislation pop up state by state by state that will eventually come to this radical court. I have zero faith that my rights will be upheld.”
Finally, Rapinoe called on men to enact meaningful ally-ship in their own lives to prevent the encroachment of rights.
“This is what, frankly, doing the right thing looks like. If not for men, we would have none of these laws,” she said. “We would have none of the inequality in terms of gender rights and this sort of onslaught of abortion rights and the onslaught on abortion rights. None of this would be happening. We did not do this ourselves.
“I encourage people to take a step back and come from a place of compassion and humanity and understand that just because I believe something doesn’t mean everybody else has to. We all get to make our own choices. But ultimately, we need to come from a place of love, respect and autonomy to do what we feel is best for us.”
Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism