For Immediate Release: June 27, 2018
Contact: media@prochoiceamerica.org
After Supreme Court Chief Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue issued the following statement:
“Today, Justice Kennedy announced his retirement, and because President Trump will nominate the next Supreme Court Justice, a woman’s constitutional right to access legal abortion is in dire, immediate danger—along with the fundamental rights of all Americans. We also know that for decades, a multi-million-dollar, extreme, anti-choice movement has quietly and aggressively chipped away at that right in state legislatures, in lower courts, and now from within the Trump administration. Their stated goal, clearly and loudly, is overturning Roe v. Wade.
“Our country faces a moment of deep crisis—a crisis of rights, of values, and of leadership. The deeply-divided decisions from the Supreme Court this week are a clear warning that our most cherished values are in jeopardy, and now hang in the balance. Women will not go back to the days when abortion was illegal in this country.
“Many Senators claim to support and protect the fundamental rights of women, but with a Supreme Court vacancy, a woman’s right to control her own destiny hangs in the balance. We were not fooled by then-nominee Neil Gorsuch’s claims at neutrality, and we won’t be fooled now. Our elected officials cannot wait days and weeks to show leadership; they must show leadership now.”