Speaker Heastie Statement on Supreme Court Striking Down Abortion Restrictions
Today's Supreme Court decision to strike down Louisiana's attempt to restrict abortion access is a win for women not just in Louisiana, but across our country.
Time and again, we see states seeking to control and limit women's reproductive rights and access to abortion. While they try and hide it behind the language of checking a doctor's credentials or protecting the health of the woman, we see it for what it truly is – an attack on women. This was true in 2016 when the Supreme Court ruled that Texas's law requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles was unconstitutional, and it is true today of Louisiana's nearly identical law.
It has been 47 years since Roe v. Wade, and battles for women's reproductive rights are still being waged in states and courts across the country. That is why, here in New York, we passed the Reproductive Health Act and other critical legislation that protects women's access to reproductive healthcare. The Assembly Majority understands that access to these critical services impacts every aspect of a woman's life from her health to her family to her education and career. We will continue to fight for women's reproductive healthcare and right to choose.