Roe v. Wade Anniversary Comes at Critical Time for Future of Women's Health

1/22
For Immediate Release
Contact: Lisa Bennett, 202-628-8669, ext. 123; cell 202-641-1906

Roe v. Wade Anniversary Comes at Critical Time for Future of Women's Health

Statement of NOW President Kim Gandy

Today as feminists gather to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision 33 years ago that recognized and guaranteed women's constitutional right to control their own bodies, we all wonder: What will this 34th year bring?

We are standing up for women within sight of the U.S. Capitol, where this week the Senate will debate the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito, whose record is proof of his disregard for our rights. We are standing up for women, even as the radical right wing conspires to curtail our liberties and limit our reproductive freedoms. They are waging an intense fight to overturn the ruling that has saved women's lives for more than three decades.

Since we last gathered to commemorate Roe v. Wade, two seats have opened up on the Supreme Court, and George W. Bush has used both opportunities to nominate judges whose records show a disdain for privacy rights and individual liberties. The Senate is poised to vote on confirming Samuel Alito, who would replace Sandra Day O'Connor, a justice whose vote has upheld women's rights for nearly 25 years. How quickly the fate of women's reproductive rights could turn in this nation.

That is why women and men all over the country are calling, writing and visiting their senators right now, urging them to filibuster Alito. But ultimately it is the responsibility of pro-choice, pro-women senators to cement their commitment to defending our reproductive freedoms—to cast a "no" vote for Samuel Alito, and to do whatever is necessary, including filibuster, to protect our rights.

We are standing here today in the shadow of the Supreme Court, in solidarity, as a reminder of the lives that have been saved because of Roe v. Wade and the lives that will be lost if this critical decision is further weakened.

The Supreme Court's decisions will ultimately determine the future of reproductive justice for generations of women and girls. We won't let this be the last anniversary of Roe v. Wade, because women's lives depend on it.