Washington, DC – Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee, released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision today in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which strikes down Roe v. Wade’s protection of a woman’s right to obtain an abortion:
“This is a sad, dark day for women everywhere, who have relied on the protection of Roe as settled law, and for the Court, whose reputation degrades further. Today’s decision shreds a half-century-old legal precedent in order to deny women the right to decide if and when to have children. That is among the most private, personal, and significant decisions in life, and the Court in Roe v. Wade rightly held the Constitution’s guarantee of individual liberty protects such private decisions against government interference. Now, Roe’s privacy protection is gone and legislatures can meddle freely in these intimate and difficult decisions. The consequences for millions of women are immediate, as an array of antiquated anti-abortion laws snap back into place.
“The public could not be clearer on this issue. Large majorities of Americans support upholding Roe. That’s why right-wing special interests turned to the life-tenured justices they helped install on the bench to achieve their extremist goal. This decision represents another win for those right-wing donor interests at regular Americans’ expense – another win from the Court That Dark Money Built.
“This is one of the most smug, arrogant, and untethered decisions in the Court’s history. We must find a way to reverse the damage wrought today.”
Rich Davidson (202) 228-6291 (press office)
