Some Connecticut lawmakers are calling the Supreme Court’s leaked draft decision an outrage and an attack on women. It comes just days after they passed the most sweeping abortion legislation our state has seen in the past few decades.
The “Reproductive Freedom Defense Act,” as the bill is called by supporters, is set to be signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont any day now. The legislation aims to protect in-state medical providers as well as patients who travel to Connecticut for an abortion.
Reproductive rights advocates and many of Connecticut’s Democratic lawmakers stood together at the state capitol Tuesday afternoon to declare their disgust with what they say they’ve read in the Supreme Court’s leaked Roe v. Wade draft opinion. They want people to know Connecticut will continue to be a safe place for women to make their own decisions.
“We are devastated, we are furious, and we are going to continue to fight back,” said Gretchen Raffa, vice president of public policy at Planned Parenthood of Southern New England.
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“My decision to have an abortion in 2018 was not a difficult one. Being pregnant when I did not want to be was,” said Liz Gustafson, state director of Pro-Choice Connecticut.
“We will defend you. I will defend you, anytime, anyplace. This is healthcare. It is a fundamental human right, and this will not stand in Connecticut. Connecticut will fight to protect women patients and reproductive health,” said Attorney General William Tong-D.
At another event, Lamont shared his take on the divulged document, too.
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“We're going to fight for women's rights and reproductive rights. I don't need politicians getting between a mom and her doctor let them make the decision themselves," the governor said.
But for some in our state, the draft is a promising, sigh of relief for potential change in the future.
“We don’t know if this is a real decision of the Supreme Court, but if this turns out to be the case it is a tremendous win for life in America, so we’re cautiously optimistic,” said Family Institute of Connecticut’s Director of Public Policy Peter Wolfgang.
In a statement, the Archdiocese of Hartford wrote in part:
"Although the framework for the opinion is strictly legal, it is no less a moral victory for all who believe the truth that life begins at conception and is to be protected by law."
Connecticut Right to Life tells us that the Supreme Court’s draft is good news but does not go far enough to protect unborn children as people.
Whatever the Supreme Court decides, it would not ban abortion nationwide, although it will allow individual states to do so.
With the Connecticut lawmakers in office now, abortion would appear to remain legal in our state.
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