Senator Larson Statement on SCOTUS Overturning Roe v. Wade

Milwaukee, WI – “Just one day after declaring the right to carry a gun is nearly absolute, the Supreme Court of the United States declared that there is no longer any right to determine whether one becomes a parent. In so doing, they overturned nearly 50 years of legal precedent, which had recognized the constitutional right to an abortion up to the time of fetal viability.

“With a majority they first achieved by stealing a Supreme Court nomination from President Obama, Republicans have succeeded in delegitimizing the High Court, an outcome which stands shoulder to shoulder with the egregiousness of this decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. It is a decision so stark and sweeping that the Chief Justice could not even bring himself to concur, despite agreeing with the right-wing majority on the merits of the specific law being challenged.

“For women in Wisconsin, the reversal of Roe has even more far-reaching consequences. It effectively sends our state back to 1849, just one year after statehood, when a felony abortion ban was passed that does not include exceptions for rape, incest, or non-life-threatening medical condition. This was a time when slavery was legal in the South, women were not guaranteed the vote, and 79 years before the discovery of Penicillin.

“Nearly two-thirds of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. This is a matter of civil rights, equal protection under the law, self-determination, and above all, it is a matter of healthcare. Doctors swear an oath to care for their patients and to do them no harm. In Wisconsin and in Republican-controlled states across the country, they are unable to provide the full range of reproductive healthcare for no medical reason, but because of extremist theocrats appointed by Republicans who are willing to subjugate women but not to protect children from gun violence.

“This is a dark day for women, a dark day for the Supreme Court, and a dark day for democracy. The long but crucial road to restoring abortion rights starts now.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.