Press Release Nevada
Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Responds to Senate Judiciary Committee’s Hearing on Texas’ Unconstitutional Ban on Abortion and the Role of the Shadow Docket
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Contact: [email protected]
The Supreme Court’s refusal to block Texas’ unconstitutional ban on abortion has rendered Roe v. Wade meaningless in the state
Washington, DC — Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing examining Texas’ unconstitutional, vigilante-enforced ban on abortion (SB 8) and the role of the so-called “shadow docket” in this case.
NARAL Pro-Choice America’s Acting President Adrienne Kimmell released the following statement:
“We applaud Chair Dick Durbin’s efforts to shine a light on the harms of Texas’ unconstitutional ban on abortion and make clear that our fundamental freedoms, including our democracy itself, are at stake.
Donald Trump and Sen. Mitch McConnell worked in lockstep with the anti-choice movement and members of this very committee to install a supermajority on the Supreme Court that is unmistakably hostile to reproductive freedom. Now, the Supreme Court is using its shadow docket to advance an ideological agenda under the cover of darkness that stands in direct opposition to the will of the overwhelming majority of Americans.
It is imperative that Congress do everything in its power to protect the right to abortion—including passing the Women’s Health Protection Act—before the Court has the chance to further eviscerate our rights and freedoms.”
Earlier this month, in an unsigned opinion released through the Supreme Court’s shadow docket, the Court refused to block Texas’ blatantly unconstitutional, vigilante-enforced ban on abortion at about six weeks of pregnancy. The Supreme Court’s refusal to take action to prevent SB 8 from going into effect has rendered Roe v. Wade meaningless for tens of millions of Texans and has emboldened anti-choice lawmakers in other states to use SB 8 as a blueprint to ban abortion. Anti-choice lawmakers in Florida introduced SB 8 copycat legislation last week and lawmakers in 11 other states have made clear their intention to pursue similar legislation.
Texas’ SB 8, and the looming threat to the future of safe, legal abortion, underscores the urgent need for the U.S. Senate to pass the Women’s Health Protect Act (WHPA) and protect the right to abortion throughout the United States. Every day without action means that more and more people are being denied their constitutional right to abortion—and this disproportionately affects women; Black, Indigenous, people of color; members of the LGBTQ+ community; and those with lower incomes.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, paid family leave, and protections from pregnancy discrimination—for every body. NARAL is powered by its more than 2.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support safe, legal abortion.