Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court officially begins its fall 2023 oral arguments. This term, the Supreme Court will hear two cases that disproportionately affect the security, safety, and future of women in America. A new Center for American Progress column breaks down what you should know about these cases and what their implications are for women across the country.
United States v. Rahimi will partly determine the future of gun violence prevention policies and domestic violence in the United States. The Supreme Court will decide if a lifesaving gun violence prevention policy that prohibits the possession of firearms for those subject to a domestic violence restraining order is constitutional under the Second Amendment. The CAP column examines the case, walks through how a negative outcome could strip survivors of one of the few avenues available to effectively protect themselves and their families, and some key facts about domestic violence and gun violence:
- In 2013, more than 50 percent of all intimate partner-related murders of women were committed with a firearm.
- Two-thirds of all mass shootings from 2014 to 2019 occurred during a domestic violence incident.
- The presence of a firearm in the home during a domestic violence incident increases the risk of death fivefold.
Rahimi exemplifies how an activist Supreme Court may damage the lives of domestic violence survivors and women in America.
A decision in the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will determine if women have access to the only FDA-approved option for the first medicine in a two-step regimen for medication abortion, mifepristone. Mifepristone has been used by more than 5 million women and is used in more than half of all abortions in the nation. In the more than 22 years it has been on the market, the FDA has evaluated its safety at least four times.
“Rahimi and Alliance underscore how much is at stake for women in the fall 2023 Supreme Court term,” said Sabrina Talukder, director of the Women’s Initiative at CAP. “These decisions will determine the scope of personal agency American women have in determining their safety, their security, and their futures.”
Read the column: “How Supreme Court Cases on Gun Violence and Abortion Will Affect Women” by Sabrina Talukder
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, please contact Sarah Nadeau at [email protected].