The Supreme Court’s decision today in June Medical Services v. Russo once again reaffirms the constitutional right to abortion.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 29, 2020
Media Contact
Sarah Garfinkel, West End Strategy Team
sgarfinkel@westendstrategy.com; 202-765-4290
WASHINGTON – Today, the Court upheld settled precedent and defended our rights, striking down a Louisiana law designed to impose medically unnecessary requirements on providers and to block patients from obtaining time-sensitive, essential health care.
National Council of Jewish Women CEO Sheila Katz and NCJW New Orleans President Susan Hess released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s decision:
“NCJW is so glad that the Supreme Court has once again upheld our constitutionally-protected right to bodily autonomy, ensuring that that the state’s three clinics can remain open and continue to serve the nearly 10,000 Louisianans seeking safe and legal abortions every year.
“However, this fight is far from over as anti-abortion lawmakers across the country continue their sustained and coordinated attacks on our reproductive freedom. Indeed, the law struck down today represents just one of the nearly 450 state laws restricting access to reproductive health care — which range from outright abortion bans to biased counseling mandates to medically unnecessary regulations imposing onerous requirements on providers and patients — passed since 2011.
“As if this terrifying trend wasn’t enough, the Hyde Amendment has denied abortion coverage to those enrolled in federal health programs for over 40 years despite tireless efforts to end this discriminatory policy. Significantly, even where abortion is available in theory, structural barriers to care resulting from long-standing social and economic inequities often make this basic health care unavailable in fact, disproportionately harming people of color, young people, immigrants, low-income people, rural communities, and LGBTQ individuals.
“As people of faith, we refuse to remain idle while moral autonomy, health, and lives are at stake. Every single day, we advocate for abortion rights and access for all because of Jewish values, not in spite of them. NCJW calls on Congress to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act (HR 2975/S 1645) to establish a federal standard safeguarding access to high-quality care and securing our constitutional rights by protecting patients and providers from political interference. Our lawmakers must act now to ensure that everyone can make their own moral and faith-informed decisions about their body, family, and future.”