Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) released the following statement ahead of oral arguments at the Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which threatens to overturn longstanding constitutional protections guaranteeing the right to access abortion care:
“The case that the Supreme Court is hearing today presents a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade and the constitutionally protected right to abortion. Generations have had access to legal abortion because the Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed that people are entitled to make fundamental decisions about their own lives, their own families, and their own futures. Should Roe be eroded, undermined, or overturned, it will result in a patchwork of state laws that will disproportionally harm women of color and the economically vulnerable.
“In order to protect the rule of law and the rights of all Americans, the Supreme Court must do the right thing and uphold decades of precedent that guarantee access to abortion care. As a nation, we cannot go back and must do everything in our power to uphold a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions.”
In September, Pallone helped lead 188 Democrats in the House and 48 in the Senate in filing a bicameral amicus brief in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization urging the Supreme Court to uphold nearly 50 years of precedent in Roe v. Wade and protect the constitutional right to abortion care. Pallone also led debate on the Floor of the House of Representatives when it passed the Women’s Health Protection Act earlier this year to ensure that no matter where they live, patients can access abortion services and health care providers can provide care without medically unnecessary and burdensome restrictions.
Original source can be found here.
