Whitehouse Statement on Reported Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade

Washington, DC – Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee, released the following statement on reports of a draft Supreme Court majority ruling that would overturn Roe v. Wade and strike down a woman’s constitutional right to abortion:

“If the majority Republican justices stay the course, this decision will go down as one of the most supremely political acts in Supreme Court history.  Roe v. Wade has stood firm in the law for decades, guaranteeing women the freedom to decide if and when to have a child – one of the most profoundly personal and life-altering decisions a person can make.  This decision would wipe that well-established precedent away, to give right-wing ideologues a political victory.  The right-wing goal has been to control the Court, to achieve policy gains against the will of the American public, and this decision is exactly the kind of deliverable they had in mind when they packed the Court with Federalist-Society-chosen justices.”

“I hope the Republican justices seriously reconsider a decision to upend nearly 50 years of precedent and harm millions.  It would be a blow from which the Court may not recover, and which would fall squarely on women of this country.”