Rep. Watson Coleman Statement on Supreme Court Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 24, 2022) — Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision:

“This is a dark day for women, a dark day for freedom, and a dark day in the history of our country. By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court has erased half a century’s worth of progress and legal precedent.

“A world without Roe is a world in which the fundamental right of a person to control their own body is no longer a guarantee. It’s a world in which millions of Americans — especially people of color, the poor, and the working class — will be forced to carry pregnancies and give birth against their will.

“I’m a proud mother. In fact, becoming a mother was the best choice I ever made. And that’s exactly what having a child should be — a choice. For many, it will no longer be a choice. Without the protections afforded by Roe v. Wade, 26 states are now poised to ban abortion entirely. Many of these states have some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country, especially among women of color. Today, five reactionaries in robes eliminated 36 million Americans’ right to make potentially life-saving medical decisions.

“This decision is only the beginning. To pretend that the conservative project ends with overturning Roe would be to deceive ourselves. Now that the far right has succeeded in setting us back 50 years, they are prepared to set us back centuries.

“The ruling, which eliminates the fundamental right to privacy, threatens other laws based upon that right. It endangers not just the right to abortion, but the right to contraception, the right to love who you love, and the right to marry the person you wish to marry. It is a threat to Americans’ freedom to make basic decisions about their everyday lives.

“The so-called ‘originalists’ who control the Supreme Court and other leaders of the conservative movement believe Americans’ human rights should be limited to those that were protected in the 18th century. I would like to remind them that, according to the Declaration of Independence, we are all entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This decision is a grotesque affront to all three.”