Protecting Reproductive Rights

Roe v. Wade was the law of the land. We have to fight for our fundamental, Constitutional rights.

It is abhorrent and devastating that a girl born today will have fewer rights over her own body than a woman born forty years ago. The recent overturn of Roe is a galling affront to the rights of women and a shockingly stark reflection of a radical, extremist Supreme Court that refuses to represent anything other than far-right, monied interests. On this issue, Jerry could not be more clear: just as he has his entire career, he will fight with every ounce of his being to defend abortion rights.

Women across the country are rightfully terrified about the grim realities that will define a post-Roe America. We know full well that a world where abortion is illegal is not a world where abortions do not exist–simply one where they are done clandestinely, often dangerously, and result in needless deaths. Of course, the women most at risk are the women already teetering at the margins–low-income women who cannot afford to travel, women of color who face insidious discrimination, and rural women who cannot access quality care.

In Congress, Jerry has emerged as one of the leading voices in the efforts to protect abortion rights. He is such a highly valued and respected leader on this issue that when he ran for Judiciary Committee ranking member, NARAL endorsed him in its first-ever endorsement in a race of that kind–against a pro-choice Congresswoman, no less. And as Judiciary Committee Chair, Jerry was entrusted by House leadership in May of this year–immediately after the leak of the draft Supreme Court Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization opinion–to hold the House’s only hearing on the implications of the case. As Jerry said during that hearing, “the right of women to make reproductive decisions…is a pillar of women’s equality.” He will do everything in his power to restore that right.