FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ryan Kekeris, 410-564-5884, rkekeris@iupat.org
Statement: IUPAT President Jimmy Williams Jr. statement on leaked SCOTUS opinion
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades General President Jimmy Williams, Jr. issued the following statement in conjunction with IUPAT Women’s Committee Chair Madison Hull and LGBTQI Chair Elizabeth Rockett regarding the leaked draft Supreme Court opinion that indicates Roe v. Wade will be overturned:
“The report by POLITICO on the leaked draft opinion seeking to overturn 50 years of precedent protecting women’s fundamental right to healthcare and bodily autonomy reinforced our fears regarding the reactionary Supreme Court. The IUPAT stands with working people across the country in denouncing any and every attempt to set back women’s healthcare by a generation.
“While this is a draft of one opinion, we know the extremists aren’t done yet and that attacks on our rights won’t stop here. The implications for other long standing rights – like those of LGBTQI identifying people, access to birth control, and marriage equality are equally alarming. This is yet another attack on the fundamentals of our democracy – which we have seen too often in the past few years.
“We will continue to fight for the rights of all of our members and their families to have access to the healthcare they need and to marry who they please. Working people across the IUPAT understand that women’s rights are LGBTQI rights are worker’s rights. In light of this leak, we are more determined than ever to hold elected leaders accountable – including working for and electing candidates who will support us fully as workers and people.”
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THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF PAINTERS AND ALLIED TRADES (IUPAT)
Represents a growing community of over 140,000 active and retired craftspeople in the United States and Canada. The IUPAT membership extends far beyond the workplace. Recognized as one of the most active unions in the labor movement, IUPAT members help shape their communities in many ways: through an abiding commitment to service, by fighting passionately for workers’ rights that benefit all working families, and through effective worker education and mobilization.
Visit www.iupat.org to learn more