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The Pulse
‘Disastrous’ and ‘unthinkable’ North Carolinians react to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which established abortion as a constitutional right. The following is reaction to the ruling from a number of prominent North Carolinians:
From state House Rep. Julie von Haefen:
ICYMI: NC House Speaker Tim Moore made his intentions crystal clear yesterday. “North Carolinians should fully expect that when we’re in session next year, that we deal with this and that we enhance those protections for the unborn.”
This is an all-hands-on-deck situation. Vote.
— Rep. Julie von Haefen (@juliefornc) June 25, 2022
From state Senator Natalie Murdock:
Roe has been overturned, what happens next in NC? #RoeOverturned #SCOTUS pic.twitter.com/8YjU5AeY2n
— Senator Natalie Murdock (@NatalieforNC) June 25, 2022
From Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12):
From Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02):
“The bottom line is this: women will lose control over all aspects of their lives because of this decision.“The Supreme Court has done what many believed was unthinkable for nearly half a century. By overturning Roe v. Wade, they have stripped millions of women of a sacred constitutional right. And they did so even though the vast majority of Americans agree that women should have the right to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions. I fear for all our sisters and daughters and I fear for the state of North Carolina, where we will need to fight tooth and nail in the coming weeks and months to preserve access to abortion healthcare.“The people of North Carolina elected me to stand up for them, and I will not give up. I will not back down. I will join with people across our state from both political parties and from every walk of life. Together, we will keep fighting every day until all women have control over their own reproductive decisions.”
From US. Senate candidate and for NC Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley:
The Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and decimate abortion access sets a dangerous legal precedent for our personal freedoms.
As the former Chief Justice of the NC Supreme Court, I know reproductive freedom is a constitutional right.
— Cheri Beasley (@CheriBeasleyNC) June 24, 2022
From state Senator Natasha Marcus:
“This is outrageous. The US Supreme Court has released a torrent of disrespectful rhetoric and a dangerous injustice with its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health today. Any American who might become pregnant, or anyone who cares about someone who could, should be very angry and very worried. The Court has taken the alarming step of overturning precedents that have been in place for my entire lifetime in order to rip away women’s rights to maintain basic autonomy over our bodies. The Dobbs decision has given a green light to forced births, maternal hardships, and rapists having more rights than the women they forcibly impregnate.
It is hard to believe that this is America in 2022. Women and girls in many states will immediately become second-class citizens, without the right to make decisions for themselves about whether and when to have a child. Women and girls in many other states, like North Carolina, won’t immediately lose their rights, but are now one bad election cycle away from losing them. Instead of being the land of the free where all people are guaranteed liberty, America will now be a disturbing patchwork where women in some states are forced to continue unexpected, unviable, unsafe and/or unwanted pregnancies, while other states become crowded safe havens for abortion care refugees forced to flee in order to access the care they need. People, many of whom are already mothers, will die and suffer harm because of this terrible, unjust ruling by an activist Supreme Court.
As a member of the North Carolina General Assembly, I call on legislative leaders to pass my bill, SB888, Codify Roe and Casey, to maintain the status quo on abortion access in North Carolina and make sure that North Carolinians can continue to access the reproductive healthcare that we need. For now, abortion is still legal in North Carolina. We cannot slide backwards or allow the government to block people from making our own decisions about such deeply personal matters.”
From Buncombe County Commissioner and NC-11 congressional candidate Jasmine Beach-Ferrara:
I can't stop thinking about how so many of us have relied on the courts to protect our constitutional rights, and how those rights are under threat. We cannot go backwards. Every race on the ballot matters more than ever now. [2/2]
— Jasmine Beach-Ferrara (@JBeachFerrara) June 24, 2022
From NC Attorney General Josh Stein:
This is true even after the Supreme Court today stripped women of their right to an abortion under the Constitution by overturning Roe v. Wade. If we want to keep our freedoms under state law, then we have to elect state officials who commit to protecting them. 2/2
— Josh Stein (@JoshStein_) June 24, 2022
From Governor Roy Cooper:
“For 50 years, women have relied on their constitutional right to make their own medical decisions, but today that right has been tragically ripped away. That means it’s now up to the states to determine whether women get reproductive health care, and in North Carolina they still can. I will continue to trust women to make their own medical decisions as we fight to keep politicians out of the doctor’s exam room.”
From Congressman G.K. Butterfield:
Today is a sad day in American jurisprudence.
— G. K. Butterfield (@GKButterfield) June 24, 2022
From Anu Kumar, President and CEO of @IpasOrg
My daughter now has fewer rights than me or her grandmother #DobbsvJackson
— Anu Kumar (@AnuKumarIpas) June 24, 2022
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