RICHMOND, Va.—Tonight, Politico published an article with a leaked copy of a draft opinion from Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in which he reverses the landmark decision of Roe v Wade. This would effectively end nearly 50 years of protection for a woman’s right to choose.
Virginia House Democratic Caucus Chair Charniele Herring released the following statement in response:
“Let’s be clear – should this draft opinion become final, people will die. Those people will be predominantly women of color and low-income women, women who cannot afford to skirt the law by traveling to another state. Ending the right to legal abortion doesn’t stop abortions from happening, it just makes them less safe by returning them to the back alleys of our past. As more and more nations around the world codify the legal right to abortion, this country is poised to take a step backward, to remove a person’s right to bodily autonomy. With nearly 50 years of precedent being wiped away in one opinion, I hesitate to think which will be next to fall.
Never has it been more important for states to step up and protect the rights that the federal government fails to uphold. Be assured that we will do everything in its power to stop any attempt by Governor Youngkin or Republican legislators to undermine reproductive rights in Virginia. We have stood up to transvaginal ultrasounds, we have stood up to TRAP laws, and we have fought back attempts to treat women as second class citizens; Virginia will not backslide, not on our watch.”