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The signatories are all women who \"have exercised, relied on the availability of, or support the constitutional right to abortion care in order to meet the demands of their sports,\" according to the brief.

Women's rights advocates said it was the first time a large group of female American athletes publicly took a stand in support of abortion access.

Crissy Perham, a double gold medalist and captain of the 1992 U.S. Olympic swim team, offered one of several personal testimonies in the brief attesting to her experience obtaining an abortion.

\"When I was in college, I was on birth control, but I accidentally became pregnant,\" she wrote. \"I decided to have an abortion. I wasn't ready to be a mom, and having an abortion felt like I was given a second chance at life.\"

\"That choice ultimately led me to being an Olympian, a college graduate and a proud mother today,\" Perham wrote.

Several athletes described the importance of the Supreme Court precedent in laying the groundwork for more women to participate in athletics and as a \"safeguard\" in case birth control failed.

\"As a victim of rape during my junior year of college, I was comforted in the fact that if I were to fall pregnant and need an abortion, I would have access to that service,\" a Division I field hockey player, who was not identified by name, wrote in the brief.

\"PHOTO:
BSR Agency/Getty Images, FILE
PHOTO: In this Aug. 3, 2021, file photo, Ashleigh Johnson of the United States is shown during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Waterpolo Tournament women's quarterfinal match between Canada and United States at Tatsumi Waterpolo Centre in Tokyo.
>

Ashleigh Johnson, the first Black woman on the U.S. Olympic water polo team and member of the gold-medal 2016 and 2021 Olympic teams, said she wants the justices to see abortion access a matter of racial justice.

\"It is well-established that women of color experience real disparities in accessing health care services, including contraceptive, abortion and other reproductive care,\" Johnson said in a statement. \"I hope we can have a real conversation as a country about valuing Black women's autonomy.\"

The case will be argued in December and is expected to be decided by the end of June 2022.

Video: What you need to know about the Texas abortion law

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