Congresswoman Madeleine Dean released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision to overturn Roe v. Wade:
“I was 13 when Roe v. Wade became the law of the land. 50 years later, an extreme right-wing court has ended the constitutional right to abortion. Women and girls have been stripped of their basic, fundamental, human rights. I have tears of anger knowing that girls like my 10-year-old granddaughter now have fewer rights than I did as a girl.
This will not stand, but what a sad, low moment the United States has hit. Decisions got us here, and decisions can get us out.
In September 2021, the House passed the Women’s Health Protection Act — guarding the right to an abortion. But in May 2022, Senate Republicans used the filibuster to block it. We must rethink the filibuster in order to finally codify the right to abortion into federal law.
We, too, must rethink whether we should expand the Supreme Court to balance out this extreme, activist court — most of whom were appointed by the most corrupt President in American history. And clearly, we must also pass a code of ethics for Supreme Court Justices — something that Congress has the power to do.
I was in the Pennsylvania state legislature for six years. We do not want state politicians controlling a woman’s freedom, body, or right to an abortion – or controlling our constitutional right to privacy.
Everything must be on the table to restore and expand our rights.”
