Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The American Samoa Democratic Party (ASDP) is weighing in on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last week that overturns Roe v Wade — the landmark 1973 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States generally protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion.

In a vehement rejection of the ruling, the ASDP executive board said in a press release issued over the weekend, “This ruling goes beyond personal choice and freedom. It is class war; it is [a] state violence against women.

“Overturning Roe doesn’t make abortions go away; it makes it less safe.

“Women of color already experience higher pregnancy related deaths. This horrific decision will impact tens of millions of girls and women across nearly half of the country stripping them of their dignity, bodily autonomy, and personal choice regarding the most difficult decisions of their lives.

“Women to include mothers that lack the financial wherewithal or that reside in states without exceptions for rape or incest will face criminalization and death. Knowing that women of color are more severely impacted by this decision and could die at a higher and disproportionate rate, the Supreme Court has made it clear that it does not value the lives of women of color.

“The decision on Roe turns the clock back 50 years in the United States of America making her an outlier to join the likes of Iran, North Korea, and Russia,” the board wrote.

They quoted women’s reproductive rights icon — the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — who said, “The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity. … When government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices.”

While American Samoa does not provide abortion services, the ASDP board said “We must support the rights of those who seek to make these personal decisions about her own body. The Court’s decision may have us devastated and outraged, but it is more important than ever than we channel this rage into action. Because even though in this moment we may feel as though we have lost, we must keep fighting for the future we want.”

Members of the ASDP executive board are:

Chairman, Patrick Ti’a Reid;  Vice-Chairwoman, Petti Matila; Treasurer, Justin Tuiasosopo; Secretary, Leotele Renee Matautia;  Democratic National Committeeman, Andrew Berquist; and Democratic National Committeewoman,  Sandra King Young.

(Source: American Samoa Democratic Party Ex. Committee press release)