Outspoken soccer star Megan Rapinoe rips Supreme Court decision

Redding native and international soccer star Megan Rapinoe reacted with sadness and outrage over Friday's Supreme Court decision to end constitutional protections for abortion.

"It's hard to put into words how sad a day this is for me personally, for my teammates, for just all of the people out there who this is going to affect," she said.

The U.S. forward made her comments on a Zoom call with reporters that was intended as a pre-match press conference ahead of a U.S. Women's National Team game against Colombia.

YouTube broadcast the 23-minute segment with Rapinoe as she expressed her feelings and took reporters' questions. At times, Rapinoe wiped away tears as she described how she felt.

In a wavering voice, Rapinoe said she wished she could just talk about soccer but said the Roe v. Wade ruling "takes precedent over everything."

"There are an infinite amount of reasons why a woman chooses to do what she does with her body, none of which are anybody else's business," she said.

Rapinoe said the court's decision does not reflect the will of the country and called out those who championed the ruling, which allows states to ban abortion.

"To have the entirety of the U.S. government say to women's faces, 'We do not care. We are going to force our belief system, which is deeply rooted in a white supremacist, patriarchal Christianity ... we are going to force that upon you.' First of all your religion is a choice and it is a belief that you have. It is not my belief," she said.

Rapinoe criticized the Supreme Court and its male majority for launching an assault on women's autonomy.

"The makeup of the court is ill-equipped to handle this kind of a decision. A majority male court frankly making decisions about my body or any other woman's body is completely misguided and wildly out of touch with the desires of the country, the will of the country and the will of the people," Rapinoe said.

The soccer star said some people will be OK in the ruling's aftermath but most will not. She pointed out that some groups will be more affected than others. 

"We know that this will disproportionately affect poor women, Black women, brown women, immigrants, women in abusive relationships, women who have been raped, women and girls who have been raped by family members, who, you know what, maybe just didn't make the best choice," Rapinoe said. "We know that the lack of abortion (protections) does not stop people from having abortions, it stops people from having safe abortions."

In response to a male reporter's question, she said men can do more on the side of abortion rights.

"Stand up. Say something. This is your wife, this is your sister, this is your friend, this is your girlfriend, this is the mother of your children. This is all of us. And you are allowing a violent and consistent onslaught on the autonomy of women's bodies, on women's rights, on women's minds, on our hearts, on our souls," Rapinoe said.

Mike Chapman is an award-winning reporter and photographer for the Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif. His newspaper career spans Yreka and Eureka in Northern California and Bellingham, Wash. Support local journalism by subscribing today.