Carper Condemns SCOTUS Decision to Overturn Roe v. Wade

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) today released the following statement after the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning 50 years of precedent and the Constitutional right to an abortion as established under Roe v. Wade:

“Today, the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, and upended the lives of millions of American women. It is a cruel and wrong decision—very likely the worst Supreme Court decision of my lifetime. 

“For nearly 50 years, women have had the constitutional right to privacy to make their own personal decisions about their health and future without a politician or an unelected judge in their bedroom or doctor’s office—no longer. The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision takes away this bedrock constitutional right for women, and turns back the clock to a bygone era when unsafe and deadly abortions were commonplace. This radical decision also jeopardizes other constitutional rights that hinge upon Roe v. Wade—including access to contraception and marriage equality.

“The vast majority of the American public, myself included, continues to support safe and legal access to abortion, and thankfully many states, including Delaware, have laws that will continue to entrust women to make their own health decisions. However, many states have already enacted—or will enact—radical abortion bans that will force victims of rape and incest to carry their pregnancies to term. Many of these state laws do not allow for exceptions to save a woman’s life during a complicated pregnancy. This is why Roe v. Wade has been so foundational for so long—because a woman in Delaware and a woman in Oklahoma deserve equal protection under the law. And this is why millions of women—including many whom are pregnant—are terrified right now, and understandably so.

“This is a dark day for our country and our Constitution. In the face of what will surely go down in constitutional infamy for the harm it does to the Americans it ought to serve, I’m committed to doing everything I can to protect women from the pain that this decision will cause.”  

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