Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California Statement on SCOTUS Opinion on Race-Conscious Admissions Policies
June 29, 2023
Jennifer Wonnacott
SACRAMENTO—Statement from Jodi Hicks, CEO/President of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, on the Supreme Court issuing a decision today striking down race-conscious admissions policies at public and private universities as unconstitutional:
“Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California is deeply disappointed and appalled with the Supreme Court decision issued today on race-conscious admissions policies, effectively gutting universities’ ability to enact race-conscious practices to build diverse communities of students and dealing a significant blow to our nation’s civil rights framework. Last year in the leaked Dobbs decision, the majority warned of their willingness to erode the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment—in this case, the same six justices have injected colorblindness into the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, both serious blows to this victory of the reconstruction era and an indication of what we are up against.
“This ruling comes down as we witness the increasing attacks against Critical Race Theory to erase all discourse on systemic oppression, including race, gender, and sexuality. As colleges reconstruct their admissions processes to ignore a factor that is embedded in this country’s daily life, we will see the lasting impacts not only on college admissions, but on our workforce, including in those fields related to health care and policy advocacy. As Justice Jackson’s dissent makes clear, ‘deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.’ We will continue to name race, racism, and white supremacy in our advocacy, and we will not back down in this larger cultural fight against the rewriting of our history.”
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