Congresswoman Plaskett Issues Statement on SCOTUS Draft Opinion on Abortion Rights

Statement

Congresswoman Plaskett (VI-00), a Member of the House Ways and Means, Budget and Agriculture Committees, released the following statement:

"The purported draft opinion of Justice Alito calls into question the fundamental right to privacy -- the right to make personal choices about marriage, whether to have children, and how to raise them. The court is imposing a specific religious and personal belief system on the American people above the Constitution. Justice Alito in his draft opinion is making sweeping restrictions on the American people - changes to the fundamental rights outlined in numerous opinions by the court.

"As stated by Speaker Nancy Pelosi: "As drafted, Justice Alito's argument -- that women are not entitled to basic human rights today because they have been denied those rights for generations -- is alarming and extremist. It offers a dangerous blueprint for future assaults on some of our most cherished rights.'

"Following Alito's argument, gay people could have their right to marry be taken away, black children could go back to segregated schools, black people can be denied the right to vote or in the extreme, be placed in chattel slavery - all because they were denied those rights before.

"The House Democrats passed the Women's Health Protection Act to codify Roe v. Wade in September. House Democrats passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing. House Democrats passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. As well as passing the child tax credit, measures to limit the costs of insulin, universal pre-K, child care supplement, and so many more measures to make Americans lives better. All these bills have been stalled in the Senate because of the filibuster and our slim majority in the Senate.

"CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS ARE HOLDING THE LINE through a slim majority in the House against the wave of power-hungry Trump and McConnell led GOP men. The same individuals who deny women the right to choose but WON'T support funding for childcare, universal pre-K or even school lunch programs.

"The wording of this opinion should be the clarion call to Americans to elect a wave of Democrats to keep our democracy safe and quite literally the safety of the American people."

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