Pascrell Condemns Republican Supreme Court Destruction of Roe v. Wade

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) today assailed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overrule 49 years of established legal precedent in its destruction of Roe v. Wade.

“A woman’s health care must be guided solely by her own decisions in private consultation with her doctor. No judges or politicians should have their hands on a woman’s bodily decisions,” said Rep. Pascrell. “For the last 49 years, women in America have enjoyed these rights as settled law and today five unelected judges destroyed that precedent. Their decision will have catastrophic impacts on our nation both immediate and long-term.

“This partisan decision will directly endanger the health of millions American women, especially women of color and impoverished women. Already, at least 22 states are finalizing laws to criminalize a woman’s control of her own body. Outcomes that threaten women’s health care and would lead to criminal charges against women and medical providers are unacceptable in a civilized society. But that is precisely what will soon happen.

“For decades, Republicans have packed the courts with rightwing ideologues to achieve this outcome today. Terrified to eliminate Roe at the ballot box, Republicans have relied on partisan judges to do it behind closed doors. Republicans have succeeded in their sinister quest and Republicans are the cause of this decision. In lifetime seats, these so-called jurists have done something deeply opposed by most Americans.  Women will die because of what the Supreme Court has done, and our national divisions will badly worsen. The House has already voted to codify Roe into hard law. The Senate should move with urgency and do whatever it takes to pass it. We must never lose our urgency to erase this decision and reverse this dark day in America.”

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