OBGYN Iyanna Liles with Gov. Ned Lamont and Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz at Hamden post-ruling rally: "It's devastating."
Gov. Ned Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz visited a women’s health center in Hamden Friday hours after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade — and issued a nationwide invitation to individuals with uteruses to come to Connecticut while placing abortion at the forefront of their reelection campaign.
The Lamont-Bysiewicz stop — organized by their campaign committee — took place in Hamden at Comprehensive Gynecology of CT, a clinic that’s part of a statewide women’s health network serving over 200,000 people.
Lamont and Bysiewicz were joined by doctors and center staffers in condemning Friday’s Supreme Court decision 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. (Click here for an “explainer” about the ruling.)
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.)
Connecticut welcomes women who are “not getting a fair shake in Texas or Mississippi” to come here to Connecticut to obtain an abortion, Lamont proclaimed.
As for efforts to ban abortion or limit access in Connecticut, Lamont stated, “No way. Not on our watch.”
And he welcomed employers looking to leave abortion-banning states: “Businesses are going to relocate in Connecticut because they want to attract top female talent.”
Lamont speaks with midwife Amanda Corcoran and OBGYN Iyanna Liles.
Like Democrats nationwide, Connecticut Democrats are seeking to emphasize Supreme Court rulings on abortion and gun control on the campaign trail this year, at a time when concerns about inflation and the president’s sagging popularity have given an advantage to Republicans.
Bysiewicz noted that the next set of decisions on abortion are “up to [state] legislatures now. There could not be a more critical decision for voters to make in November when they come to the polls in Connecticut. Who do you trust to protect women’s reproductive rights?”
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski, who has the challenge of maintaining the votes of pro-life Republicans while appealing to pro-choice unaffiliated voters (the largest election bloc), sought Friday to downplay the abortion decision as a campaign issue — and portray Lamont, not him, as an ally of “extremism.”
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling has absolutely no impact on Connecticut residents,” Stefanowski was quoted as saying in a statement released by his office.
“I will continue to support Connecticut’s state law, which has codified a woman’s right to choose, with an appropriate ban on late-term abortion. Governor Lamont takes the extreme position that parents don’t even have a right to know their daughter is considering an abortion, while I support mandatory notification to parents for girls under sixteen.”
Stefanowski is correct that abortion rights are codified in state law, Bysiewicz noted in response. “What hasn’t been said by our opponent is that he will stand up to any attacks on that law. The governor and I will stand up to any attack. Those attacks come every legislative session.”
OBGYN Emily Fine: "Everyone needs to know: Abortion is healthcare. It's not optional."
Obstetrician-gynecologist Emily Fine said Connecticut must aim not only “to protect our women, but to think of inventive ways to reach out to women who are suffering and help them in any ways we can.”
That includes supporting organizations that fund the costs of transportation for those who cannot access abortion without having to travel. She also urged her audience to advocate for free contraception nationwide.
Doctor Iyanna Liles described the court decision as “devastating.”
“It’s devastating because I’m having patients tell me that they go to school out of state and if something were to happen they’d have to come all the way back to Connecticut to get the care that they need,” she said.
The financial burden of attempting to access safe abortions, she noted, will fall disproportionately on communities of color.
Fine called the overturning of Roe “classist, racist and misogynistic.”
“We know the vast majority of Americans regardless of party support a woman’s right to choose,” she added. “Everyone needs to know: Abortion is healthcare. It’s not optional.”
Whether it’s due to the continuation of dangerous pregnancies, self-induced abortions, or the long-term psychiatric impacts of unwanted pregnancies, Fine warned: “We are going to see women die.”
Watch the full press conference below.
What will happen to these children - after they are forced to be born by (possibly) poor, depressed, or drug addicted mothers? Or, just born to mothers who are not in any way ready to be mothers?
What happens to the mothers who can't raise them and can't get support from the fathers? Fathers may not be able to support their unwanted children if they don't have the jobs and financial resources to raise these children, or even just pay for the basics! Basic isn't good enough to raise healthy and happy kids!
Please consider the poverty and inequality for so many people - who are actually hopeful about creating/raising a family - in this country. The rents are too damn high. Nobody without some wealth and/or privilege can purchase a home in New Haven. The same conservatives who support ending abortion rights are (usually) the same people who won't support any socialized care - for anyone! This confounds me!
It seems absurd to have to educate or remind anyone - that if men were the ones with this burden (all the physical things that happen to a woman during every single day of pregnancy), not to mention the utter blame and shame that is placed on women for “getting in that way” that we would not be having this controversy.
I wonder how things will change when these unwanted babies are born, and when the fathers have to start paying for their share of the care. What will happen? Will these fathers be up for the challenge? Will the women be forced to handle ALL of the responsibilities, physically, and in so many other ways, possibly to the detriment of their lives and their kids’ lives?
I hope that plans in CT for healthy (and free) family planning via effective birth control will be forthcoming by Gov. Lamont.