Statement from the Women in Surgery Forum on Roe v Wade

On behalf of the Women in Surgery Forum members at The Royal College of Surgeons of England, Chair Tamzin Cuming responds to Roe v Wade decision:

'As women surgeons we believe the right to bodily autonomy is sacrosanct. The decision by the Supreme Court of the US to revoke the right of reproductive autonomy held for 50 years by overturning the landmark Roe v Wade decision has sent shockwaves around the world. It reminds us that the hard won rights of the marginalised must never be taken for granted, and instead must be continually reaffirmed. This decision will sadly lead to the preventable suffering and deaths of women who will have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers.

'The Women in Surgery Forum at The Royal College of Surgeons of England would like to state its dismay at the overturning of Roe v Wade. We stand by women's rights to choose what happens to their bodies and our absolute reproductive rights.

'With the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg we agree: “The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity. It is a decision she must make for herself. When the government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a full adult human responsible for her own choices.”'