More than 500 female athletes, coaches, and athletic associations have upheld the right to abortion before the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest court in the United States.

Without the right to an abortion, the letter stated, “the physical stresses of pregnancy and forced childbirth will undermine the athletes’ ability to reach their fullest potential.” “Pregnancy radically alters a woman’s body, affecting and potentially hindering an athlete’s access to higher education, high-level competition and professional sports. Athletes must be able to choose whether and when their bodies should exercise, become pregnant, or both.”

The athletes, known collectively as Athlete Amici, signed an official plea to say that the right to an abortion is necessary so that female athletes can practice their sport at the same level as men. Group asked court to oppose Mississippi law ban
Most miscarriages occur after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Rapinoe: obscene and un-American

Among the signatories to the agreement are soccer star Megan Rapinoe, women’s national team captain Becky Sauerbrunn, two-time water polo gold medalist Ashley Johnson, and basketball stars Sue Bird and Diana Torassi.

Bird, who is married to Rapinoe, and Torassi won Olympic gold with the US team in Tokyo. Twenty-six female Olympians and 73 professional players endorsed the appeal, along with various representative bodies such as the NFL and the NBA Players Association.

“As athletes and sports workers, we must have the power to make important decisions about our bodies and control our reproduction,” Rapinoe said. The 36-year-old former world soccer player said laws restricting abortion rights were “outrageous and un-American”.

The Supreme Court on Monday set the arguments in the Mississippi case on Dec. 1. In this case, the state is trying to overturn the 1973 US Supreme Court ruling that made abortions legal across the country. Mississippi wants to ban all abortions after the 15th week. Exceptions should only be made in cases of medical emergencies or “severe fetal abnormalities.”

The Mississippi state government tightened abortion law after conservative attorney Amy Connie Barrett appealed to the Supreme Court last year, before President Donald Trump stepped down. She gave the Conservatives a six-to-three majority in the Supreme Court.