New Haven U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro renewed a call Friday for Congress to enshrine a right to abortion in federal law, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down Roe v. Wade.
DeLauro issued her statement moments after the court issued its ruling in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. As expected, the court in the 6 – 3 ruling overturned the 50-year-old precedent set in Roe that established a constitutional right to abortion.
As a result of the ruling, dozens of states are expected to promptly puts laws into effect banning all or almost all abortions. Connecticut has strengthened its abortions rights laws in anticipation of the ruling. (Read about that here.)
Congress has the ability to establish a right to abortion through legislation, to overrule those state laws banning it. That’s the point of the Women’s Health Protection Act. (Read more about it here.) Connecticut U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is the lead sponsor of the Senate version of the bill. The act faces little prospect of passage given the current makeup of the Senate; it promises to be an issue in Congressional and state elections this year.
“Make no mistake, this decision puts women’s lives at risk,” DeLauro said in her statement.
“The decision to terminate a pregnancy, for whatever reason, is an immensely personal decision that can only be made by a woman after receiving counsel from her doctor and whoever else she chooses. This Supreme Court’s action today is not about protecting life. It is about stripping power, control, and dignity away from women. Their hypocrisy and cruelty for those that do not subscribe to their warped worldview is the point.
“We must immediately act. Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land for nearly 50 years. Overturning it now sets a dangerous precedent and opens the door to the end of additional judicial precedents. The right to privacy is at stake. Access to contraception is at stake. Gay marriage is at stake. I shudder to think about what the conservative majority of the Supreme Court will choose to strip away next.
“For decades, GOP lawmakers have sought to overturn Roe. Their goal is clear: a total ban on abortions across the nation. We know several states are poised to outlaw the right to choose in the wake of this ruling. We cannot allow these draconian laws to take effect. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to join the House in protecting abortion rights by passing the Women’s Health Protection Act.”
Blumenthal, meanwhile, issued his own statement in reaction to the ruling: “Every American should have the right to decide whether and when to have children. Politicians do not know better than women what kind of care they need from their physicians. The government should never be allowed to dictate decisions about pregnancy that should remain between a woman and her doctor. The government should not be able to impose a forced pregnancy on anyone – especially a pregnancy that is the result of abuse or rape or threatens their life.”
Connection Attorney General William Tong noted that some Republican lawmakers have called for a federal law with the opposite aim of Blumenthal’s — it would ban abortion nationwide, codifying Friday’s court ruling.
“I will be the first to sue” if such a federal law passes, Tong vowed in a statement released by his office.
“We are about to see a tsunami of radical litigation and legislation aimed at further eroding rights we have taken for granted — some for generations. Marriage equality, inter-racial marriage, and access to birth control are all in the crosshairs,” Tong argued.
Interesting turn of phrase-- ".. U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro renewed a call Friday for Congress to enshrine a right to abortion..." as if the murder of the unborn baby is a holy act; perhaps even a sacrament worthy of a shrine.
I wonder why the archbishop of Hartford, Leonard Blair, has not yet banned DeLauro from receiving communion, as his more courageous brother bishops have done? What's he scared of?