WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization:

“The right to an abortion is an essential right. But today, six right-wing justices on the Supreme Court cast aside half a century of precedent to overturn Roe v. Wade. This draconian decision will deprive millions of Americans of the basic freedom to make decisions for their own bodies. It also jeopardizes other fundamental civil rights, like the right to marry who you love, the right to privacy, and the right to access contraception.

“I refuse to accept a reality in which women across the country are stripped of the right to make their own decisions about their reproductive health. And the American people shouldn’t accept this either. I will do everything I can in the Senate to enshrine reproductive rights in federal law. But with so much on the line, I also urge every American to make their voice heard, especially at the ballot box, to ensure that this generation of women is not left with fewer rights than their mothers.

“Let’s be clear: today’s decision is the direct result of a Republican effort to radicalize our Supreme Court. Now, in decision after decision, a radical right-wing majority of Republican-appointed justices is rewriting history and overturning settled precedents in order to undo hard won progress. In doing so, they have provoked a crisis of legitimacy at the Supreme Court.”

Senator Padilla is a cosponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill that would guarantee access and the right to provide abortion services in the United States. Following the leak of a draft decision in Dobbs, Padilla spoke on the Senate floor urging his colleagues to pass the bill immediately.

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