Please find a statement from Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland):
"Today is an extremely dark day for America, as we face what can only be called a ‘nightmare scenario’ for women and those who can get pregnant across this nation. It is important to stress that abortion remains and will remain legal in Massachusetts. This fundamental right to health care is here to stay in the Commonwealth, and I will fight every day to strengthen and protect it.
In its Fiscal Year 2023 budget, the Senate included language protecting access to reproductive health care, and today, Governor Baker issued an Executive Order which aligns very closely with this language. There is increased urgency to codify these provisions so that we can ensure the safety and continued protections of our residents. I remain grateful that the Commonwealth stands united to safeguard these protections."
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"The Dobbs v. Jackson decision is a disaster of epic proportions that deeply stains our nation's history and jurisprudence. It erases decades of progress on reproductive justice and paves a clear path for dismantling droves of basic civil rights interpreted into the Constitution, including contraception, marriage equality, consensual private sex, forced sterilization, and more, and destroying access to massive swaths of reproductive health care, including not only abortion but also birth control, assisted reproductive technology, and miscarriage treatment. State legislatures, including Massachusetts, must act immediately to enact laws that preserve these rights. Absent robust state action, families will be torn apart, and pregnant and birthing people will die in numbers not seen in half a century.
Abortion is still legal in Massachusetts because of actions my colleagues and I took, together with organizational and grassroots advocates, in anticipation of this solemn day. But the work is far from over. We must ensure abortions are accessible to all who seek them in Massachusetts by vesting reproductive rights in people whose bodies and lives are on the line, ensuring reproductive care is provided regardless of who might be on call in an emergency room, and clearing away restrictions and roadblocks with no basis in medicine like excessive costs and provider deserts. Further, we must do everything we can within the confines of the Constitution, even as the Court tosses its language and precedent aside, to protect people from other states' egregious anti-abortion laws, both civil and criminal.
The Court today engages in drastic, unprecedented judicial activism that moves this country decades back in time. State governments are our last line of defense, and I will forever and always be a champion in this critical fight for our fundamental rights."
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| MA Legislators statements |
