Speaker Heastie Statement on Supreme Court Decision to Overturn Nearly 50 Years of Precedent of Roe v. Wade

This is a horrifying step backwards for our country, and an attack on women, their bodily autonomy and their ability to make potentially lifesaving health care decisions.

For years when the Assembly Majority fought to pass the Reproductive Health Act, legislation that codified Roe v. Wade in New York State, we were told that it wasn’t necessary. That it was settled precedent. That it was the law of the land.

I’m glad we didn’t listen to them.

In 2019, we were finally able to pass the legislation and guarantee New York’s women would have access to reproductive healthcare. But when it leaked that the Supreme Court was going to roll back the clocks on women’s healthcare, I knew our job wasn’t finished. We passed legislation that would protect the healthcare providers safety and to prevent other states from pursuing legal action against medical professionals who provide abortions or other reproductive health services.

The horrifying precedent that today’s decision will set goes beyond Roe v. Wade. Justice Thomas’s concurring opinion suggests the Supreme Court should revisit decisions on contraception and same sex marriage. We cannot allow that to happen.

We will not allow the Supreme Court to take away the rights of New Yorkers. New York will not allow women or the LGBTQ+ community to be treated like second class citizens. We will not allow women to have their bodily autonomy stripped away. And we will not allow others to come after the doctors and medical providers that give them critical, lifesaving healthcare.

We will continue fighting to protect women’s rights to reproductive healthcare, and for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and for all Americans.

Elections have consequences as this decision proves.