This morning, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This decision, which matches a draft opinion leaked last month, has effectively overturned Roe v. Wade, invalidating the landmark decision that has made safe, legal abortion the law of the land for nearly 50 years. This ruling leaves decisions about women’s reproductive freedom in the hands of state legislatures. That means that, in Utah, abortion is now essentially outlawed thanks to a bill passed by the GOP supermajority in 2020, which, when triggered by a Supreme Court decision like the one announced today, makes abortion illegal in almost all cases.
Utah Democratic Party Chair Diane Lewis released the following statement in response:
“This decision is earth-shattering for women across the country, especially in states like Utah, where extremist Republicans have meticulously put in place extremely restrictive abortion bans, plotting for exactly this moment. Let’s be clear: such personal and intimate decisions as the choice to have an abortion should be between a woman, her family, and her doctor, and they should not involve the agenda of radical politicians.
“Most Utahns do not want to see this restrictive ban go into effect in our state. We call on GOP leadership to convene a special session of the legislature to repeal their extremist ban and listen to the voices of a majority of Utahns who don’t want to see the government take away freedom of choice from the women of our state. This decision has just raised the stakes even higher for November’s election: we absolutely must elect Democratic candidates to the legislature who will support reproductive freedom and fight back against Republicans’ efforts to undermine it.”
“In the meantime, if you agree that the GOP’s radical abortion ban is wrong for Utah, contact your legislators today and urge them to support a special session to repeal S.B. 174: Abortion Prohibition Amendments.”
Original source can be found here.
