Plaskett Issues Statement on Leaked Supreme Court Roe v. Wade Draft Opinion

Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett (Submitted photo)

V.I. Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett, a member of the House Ways and Means, Budget and Agriculture committees, released the following statement concerning this week’s leak of the Supreme Court draft opinion on Roe v. Wade and abortion rights:

“The purported draft opinion of Justice Samuel Alito calls into question the fundamental right to privacy — the right to make personal choices about marriage, whether to have children, and how to raise them. The court is imposing a specific religious and personal belief system on the American people above the Constitution. Justice Alito in his draft opinion is making sweeping restrictions on the American people – changes to the fundamental rights outlined in numerous opinions by the court.

“As stated by Speaker Nancy Pelosi: ‘As drafted, Justice Alito’s argument — that women are not entitled to basic human rights today because they have been denied those rights for generations — is alarming and extremist. It offers a dangerous blueprint for future assaults on some of our most cherished rights.’”

Plaskett further shared:

“Following Justice Alito’s argument, gay people could have their right to marry be taken away, Black children could go back to segregated schools, Black people can be denied the right to vote or in the extreme, be placed in chattel slavery – all because they were denied those rights before.

“The House Democrats passed the Women’s Health Protection Act to codify Roe v. Wade in September. House Democrats passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing. House Democrats passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. As well as passing the Child Tax Credit, limiting costs of insulin, universal pre-K, childcare supplements, and so many more measures to make Americans lives better. All these bills have been stalled in the Senate because of the filibuster and our slim majority in the Senate.

“Congressional Democrats are holding the line through a slim majority in the House against the wave of power-hungry Trump and McConnell led GOP men. The same individuals who feign over a woman’s right to choose but won’t support funding for childcare, universal pre-K or even school lunch programs.

“The wording of this opinion should be the clarion call to Americans to elect a wave of Democrats to keep our democracy safe and quite literally the safety of the American people.”