06.24.22

Durbin Statement On Supreme Court Decision To Overturn Roe v. Wade

Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on July 12 on the consequences of the Court’s decision to strip away this longstanding constitutional right

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Durbin also announced that the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on July 12 that will examine a post-Roe America.

“Today’s decision eliminates a federally protected constitutional right that has been the law for nearly half a century. As a result, millions of Americans are waking up in a country where they have fewer rights than their parents and grandparents.

“The bottom line: on critical, personal choices involving a woman’s right to make reproductive decisions about her own body, do you trust her or the government?  The Supreme Court now says a woman’s right to privacy does not extend to the most personal, private choice she will ever face.

“The Senate Judiciary Committee will explore the grim reality of a post-Roe America in a hearing next month. The Court’s decision to erase the right to access an abortion will not only lead to the denial of critical health care services, but also criminal consequences for women and health care providers in states eager to embrace draconian restrictions. I will keep fighting to enshrine into law a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices. We cannot let our children inherit a nation that is less free and more dangerous than the one their parents grew up in.”

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