05.19.22

Cantwell: “The Supreme Court is pretending that they never heard of settled law”

Senate Democratic women fight back against extremist Republican campaign to strip away constitutional right to abortion

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joined fellow Democratic women of the Senate speaking out against the ongoing push from Republicans and an activist Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and strip away access to reproductive care.

In remarks to reporters at the Capitol, Senator Cantwell said that she’s heard from a record-breaking number of women reaching out to share their abortion stories and advocate for their constitutional rights.

“A few weeks ago, a political earthquake did happen in the United States with a draft release of what could potentially be a ban on abortions for women in the United States of America. And we're here today to say: we need every American who cares about these privacy rights to call their representative, their senator, and say, ‘stop a ban on abortions,’” Senator Cantwell said.

“Now, since this time a few weeks ago, what's happened? We have seen millions of Americans march in their local communities to say that they want to protect women's reproductive rights. We have heard from record numbers of women calling our offices, emailing us, sending us information, and saying that this is an unbelievable running over of their rights. We've heard heartbreaking stories of women who've talked about sexual assault, and they had no choice but to abort that fetus. And what they want to know is if we are going to stand with them and stand for the hard choices that they've had to make.

So we're asking our colleagues to be clear here. Are they for upholding these constitutional rights, or are they going to continue to help a Supreme Court run over those constitutional rights?

We know that 70% of Americans do not want to see Roe v. Wade overturned, they want these rights upheld. So who are the Republicans talking about? 25% of the Americans? This clearly is not in the mainstream view. Mainstream Americans have counted on this right, depended on this right, exercised this right, and now the Supreme Court is pretending that they never heard of settled law, never heard of mainstream views, and never heard of constitutional rights to privacy.

So the answer for this is for the American people to hold their elected representatives accountable, to make our voices heard, and to march with the young women that I have seen in my state marching. Because they want to know, are they going to grow up in a different era? An era they never imagined they were going to have to deal with, that makes them a second class citizen.

I guarantee you that is not what Americans want, and if we raise our voices loud enough, get these members held accountable, ask about their voting records, their intentions, and ask them just a plain and simple question: Do you stand with a ban on abortion? And make it clear that if they do, then America does not stand with them.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer opened the conference. Senator Cantwell was joined by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). 

A video of Senator Cantwell’s remarks can be viewed HERE, audio HERE, and a full transcript HERE.

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