The Supreme Court has voted to strike down Roe v. Wade, according to a draft court opinion leaked Monday night. The decision, written by Justice Samuel Alito, would end the constitutional right to abortion and allow states to further restrict or ban access to care. Here is how officials in New Jersey are reacting.
Gov. Phil Murphy: “If a right-wing Supreme Court cannot recognize this simple truth, our elected officials in Washington must take matters into their own hands. Congress must immediately pass federal legislation protecting the reproductive rights of all Americans, everywhere across this nation. If that means reforming the filibuster, then we need to reform the filibuster. We must ensure that every American woman has the freedom that every New Jersey woman has.”
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker: “The Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade — repudiating nearly half a century of legal precedent in the process — would be an outrageous attack on Americans’ most fundamental rights. This opinion would strip people of the constitutional right to make their own medical decisions with their doctor, even in the most extreme and unthinkable circumstances, such as in the case of rape, incest, or if someone’s life is endangered by continuing a pregnancy.”
Congressman Donald Payne, Jr.: “This absolute travesty is the direct result of the continued radicalism of the Republican Party and its turn to the far right. Now, women across the country are in jeopardy of falling backwards to a dark past when access to a safe abortion procedure was difficult or impossible. I have always been a proud supporter of a woman’s right to choose, because I know that we must trust women to make their own healthcare decisions rather than dictating to them.”
New Jersey Citizen Action: “We are angered and shocked by the U.S. Supreme Court’s apparent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. This decision would set back decades of progress on women’s rights, force countless women to make choices endangering their health and well-being, and exacerbate the health care and economic crisis that women and families across our nation face today. It also serves as a warning of how anti-democracy forces have politicized our judicial process at the highest level, and that elections do have consequences.”
National Organization for Women of New Jersey condemns Supreme Court proposed action to strike down Roe
United States government should not be in the business of forcing women to give birth
National Organization for Women of New Jersey (NOW–NJ) is outraged by the leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion in the Mississippi abortion case that points to a proposed reversal of the decisions from Roe v Wade and Casey v Planned Parenthood. Although the language may change in the final opinion, the outcome is clear—there will be no compromise, no mitigation in terms of how many weeks before an abortion is forbidden for women and pregnant persons. The new ultra-conservative majority on the Supreme Court, working in concert with right-wing extremists controlling state legislatures, will erase the Constitutional protection of reproductive healthcare for much of the country.
Passage of the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act this past January has ensured that New Jerseyans will retain the right to safe, legal abortion. To obtain the same protection at the federal level, we must get the Women’s Health Protection Act, which establishes a federal statutory right to access to abortion care, passed in Congress, and that means electing a Manchin-proof majority in the Senate and keeping control of the House.
“Abortion bans have little to do with protecting women’s health or anyone’s life. They are about control and the power politicians want to retain over women’s lives and their future. Forcing women to give birth is dystopian and straight out of the Handmaid’s Tale,” said Anjali Mehrotra, President of NOW–NJ. “The Supreme Court’s rulings on restrictions on abortion, voting rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, marriage equality and contraception, are harmful, dangerous and hateful. They are nothing short of an outright attack on our Black, brown, and LGBTQ+ communities and economically insecure women who are most at risk. It is imperative that we take all steps necessary to protect New Jersey’s women and families.”
NOW members across the nation are outraged, energized, and ready to fight back. We know that there’s a feminist majority of voters who can change the course of history in November. This is our mission. This is our time. Now, it’s up to us to vote for women’s lives. Our collective voice and power will rise to defend Roe. We will not fail.