Political, health and civil rights leaders in Connecticut decry overturning of Roe v. Wade
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Jun. 24—The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a 6-3 decision Friday, and political, civil rights and health care leaders in Connecticut swiftly decried the decision as "shameful," a "disaster" and one that would put the lives of women in danger.
The decision leaves the authority to regulate abortions up to the states.
Connecticut codified the protections in Roe v. Wade into state law in 1990, thus preserving the right to an abortion in case Roe v. Wade were overturned, and Gov. Ned Lamont last month signed a first-in-the-nation law protecting medical providers and out-of-state patients seeking an abortion.
"The unthinkable has just happened," Attorney General William Tong said in a video, calling this a "destructive opinion that endangers the lives and health of millions of American women."
He said this is not the end but rather just the beginning, and that he "will fight everywhere, any court, any time, any place to defend a woman's right to choose here in Connecticut and defend women, patients, doctors, health care professionals." Tong said if a new Congress were to try to ban abortion nationally, he would be the first to sue.
Planned Parenthood of Southern New England noted that the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, which comes seven weeks after the leaked draft decision, could lead to 26 other states quickly moving to ban abortion.
"We are all outraged and devastated that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade and taken away our federal constitutional right to abortion," President and CEO Amanda Skinner said in a statement. "The Supreme Court has just undone nearly 50 years of legal precedent and can no longer be counted on to uphold our fundamental freedom."
She added that health centers in Connecticut are still open and providing abortion care, and that "Planned Parenthood will never back down."
David McGuire, executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut, said while abortion remains legal in Connecticut, "none of our rights or liberties are secure in the face of a U.S. Supreme Court that would reverse Roe. Reproductive freedom is fundamentally about people's abilities to control their own lives and futures."
Claudine Constant, public policy and advocacy director, said elected officials in Connecticut must do more to protect Black maternal health and "even more to advance reproductive freedom."
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., in a tweet called the Supreme Court "a tiny group of politicians masquerading as justices, using their fancy robes and lifetime appointments as cover to impose their right wing political views on the entire country."
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said the decision "strips women of the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions," and that every American should have the right to decide whether and when to have children.
"The government should never be allowed to dictate decisions about pregnancy that should remain between a woman and her doctor," he said in a statement. "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."
Lamont similarly said that decisions on reproductive healthcare should be made between a patient and their doctor, without politicians interfering.
He said in a statement, "This ruling will not only result in a patchwork of unequal laws among the states, but more importantly it will result in dangerous and life-threatening situations similar to what this country witnessed countless times in the era prior to the landmark Roe case in which women died or were left severely injured."
This is a developing story.
