WASSERMAN SCHULTZ STATEMENT MARKING ROE V. WADE ANNIVERSARY

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23) issued the following statement today to mark the 44th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision:

“Forty-four years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion and affirmed the basic right of women to choose not just if, but when and with whom they want to start a family, or grow the one they’re already in. I stood arm-in-arm with hundreds of thousands of women in Washington D.C. yesterday as we marched in solidarity with women doing the same thing all over the country, to protect this fundamental reproductive right and the progress we’ve made. We know that these choices belong to women alone, in consultation with her family and physician. Yet Republicans in Congress and the incoming Administration want to reverse this constitutional right, and take these most intimate decisions away from women and their families, putting the government in charge of making them.

As we and hundreds of thousands of women in cities across the country made clear, we will not give up this right without a fight. As women knew well 44 years ago, laws do not stop abortions, they only stop medically safe abortions. The last four decades taught us that the only way to reduce unintended pregnancies is through comprehensive health approaches to family planning. That’s exactly how we’ve arrived at the lowest abortion rate since Roe v. Wade. So now more than ever, Democrats must not only stand against attempts to unravel reproductive freedoms, but block every effort to weaken the rights of women. With a movement at our back, I will work with my colleagues in Congress to uphold the progress we’ve made since Roe v. Wade, and oppose any effort to take us back to the dark times before that right was affirmed.”

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