Majority Leader Schumer Dear Colleague On Senate Democrats Fighting To Protect Reproductive Freedoms
Today, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) sent the following Dear Colleague letter as America nears the two-year anniversary of the disastrous Dobbs decision. Senate Democrats remain committed to fighting for women, families, and reproductive freedoms, starting with the Senate considering the Right to Contraception Act this Wednesday. The text of the letter can be found below:
***
June 2, 2024
Dear Colleague:
This month, America will mark a dark and somber anniversary: June 24th will be two years since a radical MAGA majority on the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The Dobbs decision was one of the worst Supreme Court decisions of modern times. In one fell swoop, MAGA Justices gave us one of the most draconian reversals of individual liberty ever. Today, at least 20 states now have near-total bans or severe restrictions on abortion.
There’s no question in the American people’s minds that Republicans have brought our country to this point. And as Donald Trump reminded us recently, he is “proudly the person responsible” for the annihilation of Roe v. Wade and grotesque reversal of women’s personal freedoms.
Democrats have been clear we will not stand for these attacks and we will fight to preserve reproductive freedoms. That is why as we return from the Memorial Day state work period, Senate Democrats will be putting reproductive freedoms front and center. Before the break, I began the process for the Senate to consider the Right to Contraception Act, led by Senators Markey and Hirono. Members should expect to vote on that legislation on Wednesday this week. And there will be more action to come after that.
The hard-right MAGA Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade opened the floodgates for Republicans to force their anti-reproductive freedom, anti-women agenda down the throats of all Americans. We’ve seen the dramatic and draconian consequences in state after state, with the Arizona Supreme Court going so far as to uphold a Civil War-era law banning abortion almost entirely, without exceptions for rape or for incest, even suggestion that doctors can be prosecuted for assisting in an abortion.
As horrific as these state abortion bans are, they’re just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the consequences of the Republican attacks on reproductive freedom. One of the most jarring examples of their extreme and dangerous agenda is the radical Alabama Supreme Court decision from earlier this year that jeopardizes access to IVF. Americans across the political spectrum were stunned at this cruel, callous, and outright chilling decision. In the wake of the Alabama decision, Senate Republicans had the chance to join our caucus in passing legislation to preserve IVF protections under federal law, but they refused.
The scourge of the Republican’s anti-reproductive rights agenda extends to contraception as well. We’ve seen right-wing judges, Justices and extremist Republicans calling on the Supreme Court to reconsider the constitutional right to contraception and states are trying to ban access to some or all contraceptives by restricting public funding for these products and services.
Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans will not be able to outrun their anti-abortion records, because the American people know that if given the chance, extremist Republicans will not stop in their campaign to strip away fundamental liberties in this country.
Democrats will never relent until we reverse the immense damage MAGA Republicans and the Supreme Court have inflicted, and we remain absolutely committed to doing everything we can to protect women, families, and reproductive freedom.
I thank each of you for your dedication to this fight and look forward to continuing our work this month and beyond.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator
