The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade on Friday immediately restricted reproductive healthcare access for millions of people across the U.S.
Business leaders and prominent figures have begun to voice their thoughts on the decision, including Meta’s former Chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg. Soon after the decision was announced, Sandberg shared a statement on her personal Facebook account.
“This is a huge setback,” she wrote. “For ourselves, our daughters, and every generation that follows, we must keep up the fight. Together, we must protect and expand abortion access.”
Earlier this month, Sandberg announced her decision to leave Meta, ending a 14-year run at the company. Her next step is to focus on advocacy and philanthropic work, she said in a recent conversation with Fortune.
“It’s just not a job that leaves room for a lot of other stuff in your life. This is a really important moment for women. This is a really important moment for me to be able to do more with my philanthropy, with my foundation,” she told Fortune.
Currently, Sandberg has no plans to become a CEO elsewhere. “My transition is going to be long,” she told Fortune. “I’m not leaving until the fall and I’m staying on the board.” She made her decision to leave the company over Memorial Day weekend, she said, telling CEO Mark Zuckerberg prior to making the announcement public on June 1.
Sandberg detailed how the Supreme Court’s decision has impacted her personally in her Facebook post. “I grew up hearing stories from my mom about what women in our country went through before Roe,” she wrote. “My Mom had a friend who left the country to get a safe abortion. Most women could not afford to do this.”
She further shared her concern for the millions of women who now face a more restrictive legal environment than the one she grew up with. “I never thought my mom’s past would become my daughters’ futures,” she wrote. “I cannot believe that I’m going to send my three daughters to college with fewer rights than I had.”
Sandberg’s 2013 bestselling book Lean In focused on women’s role in corporate leadership. Her Lean In foundation has since started thousands of groups for women helping each other achieve personal and professional goals. “The Supreme Court’s ruling jeopardizes the health and the lives of millions of girls and women across the country,” she wrote on Facebook. “It threatens to undo the progress women have made in the workplace and to strip women of economic power. It will make it harder for women to achieve their dreams. And it will disproportionately impact women with the fewest resources.”
