Rep. Cleaver Issues Statement on Report that Supreme Court is Set to Overturn Roe v. Wade
(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) released the following statement after media reports of a draft Supreme Court decision overturning the Roe v. Wade decision:
"Today, tens of millions of Americans woke up to the realization that a constitutional right they've maintained for half a century may soon be stripped from them entirely, begging the question: what next?
"If the Supreme Court ultimately makes the outrageous decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, setting women's rights back nearly five decades, America will soon be less free, less safe, and extraordinarily more divided than at any point since Roe was first decided.
"Such a decision would not only contradict decades of legal precedent and shatter whatever confidence is left in the highest court in the land, it would, most importantly, strip women of their bodily autonomy and unquestionably lead to unnecessary deaths of young women, particularly women of color, due to forced pregnancy.
"It is important that the women of America understand this is only a draft ruling, and that reproductive freedom still exists in America—for now. If you are in need of health care services, you can still receive reproductive care while the Supreme Court hopefully reconsiders the ridiculously misguided draft opinion released last night.
"I was proud to support the House-passed Women's Health Protection Act, and I will continue to urge my colleagues in the upper chamber to immediately pass this bill to protect reproductive freedom and a woman's right to quality reproductive care across the country.
"This potential assault on our constitution and the rights of women everywhere is so out of step with legal precedent, popular opinion, and the past statements of the justices themselves that this could only be considered a political ruling to push a partisan agenda. Failure to respond to such an egregious decision would only lead to future attacks on the civil rights that Americans hold dear.
"As we continue the fight to uphold reproductive freedom for the women of America, we should also be greatly concerned and alarmed about the status of voting rights, gay marriage, fair housing, and equitable treatment of immigrants, to name a few inalienable rights, which are now in the intensive care unit of the Supreme Court."
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Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Oak Grove, North Kansas City, Gladstone, Claycomo, and all of Ray, Lafayette, and Saline Counties. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee; Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance; member of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress; member of the Committee on Homeland Security; and a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. A high-resolution photo of Congressman Cleaver is available here.
