SEATTLE — The Seattle Storm is among the Seattle sports teams reacting to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The franchise said it’s “furious and ready to fight” for women.
“Yesterday, I was despondent and depressed,” said Seattle Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder. “Today, it's like to heck with that. Let's get going.”
On Thursday, female athletes celebrated the 50th anniversary of Title IX, a federal law ensuring equal opportunity. But a day later, 50 years of precedent was overturned by the Supreme Court.
“Honestly, I think they're connected,” Gilder said before Saturday’s Seattle Storm game at Climate Pledge Arena. "I think Title IX shows what's possible when you give women access to education and opportunities.”
Gilder condemned the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“It is about the worst kind of power grab you can do, and it’s designed to suppress women and punish women for all the success we've had,” said Gilder.
Gilder said players are upset, including Storm star Breanna Stewart calling the Roe v. Wade reversal "gut-wrenching and disgusting" on Twitter.
“This generation of women, 50 years into Title IX, all of our athletes, even Sue [Bird], grew up in a world where they were told that they had an equal chance to go for it in life,” said Gilder. “Then this kind of stuff happens. Our government does this. Yeah, they aren't going to tolerate it.”
Gilder said being one of three female owners of a women's sports team provides an opportunity for impact.
“We have this platform of thousands of supports who we can go shoulder to shoulder with to actually make a difference here, and that is a huge privilege we don't take lightly,” said Gilder.
Gilder plans to use her platform to get voters to the ballot box. The ownership group's "Force for Change" platform is ramping up voting rights efforts.
“We will be working on voter education, then as an individual, I’ll be working on how do you support voter registration in states other than Washington,” said Gilder.
Gilder said there are plans to have talks early next week on how the owners can best support players following the Supreme Court's decision.