New York Governor Kathy Hochul reacted to the Politico report that the U.S. Supreme Court has voted to overturn the landmark abortion rights decision Roe v Wade, saying New York will help women from states where the procedure is outlawed.
Hochul, saying she is “horrified” by the leaked draft opinion, says “for the sake of women across the country, this should not be the Supreme Court's final opinion when it comes to abortion rights.”
Hochul, who became a grandmother over the weekend, says refuses to let her new granddaughter “have to fight for …rights that should be guaranteed.”
In 2019, New York codified into state law the rights granted in Roe v Wade, so abortion rights in the state would be unaffected by the draft opinion, were it to be issued as a final decision.
Hochul says women from other states that have so called trigger laws, which would outlaw abortion if the court over turns Roe, will be welcomed “with open arms” in New York, where they can receive access to care.
She vows that “New York will always be a place where abortion rights are protected and where abortion is safe and accessible.”
SENATOR KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND WEIGHS IN
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand isn’t mincing words in her response. In a statement, she says the draft majority opinion is revealing.
"The court’s right wing majority is poised to destroy the fundamental human and reproductive rights of millions of women, willfully disregarding public opinion and court precedent."
Gillibrand says congress must enshrine into the law the right to an abortion, and that democrats must be willing to eliminate the filibuster to do so. At the state level, she says Democrats must enact strong pro-choice legislation where they currently have control. Gillibrand says in other states, democrats need to flip legislatures and pass legislation guaranteeing reproductive rights, including abortion.
NYCLU RESPONSE
Officials with the New York Civil Liberties Union say the empire state will be a beacon for those who need abortion care if the Supreme court overturns Roe vs. Wade. A leaked draft majority opinion was reported Monday evening by Politico but hasn’t been independently verified by NPR.
NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman says in a statement that while half of US states lie in wait to ban abortion, New York will once again be called on to lead, opening its doors to those who need abortion care. New York’s reproductive health act of 2019 codified the rights provided in the Roe vs. Wade decision. New York granted those rights three years before the high court ruling in 1973.
