MILWAUKEE – In reaction to the United States Supreme Court’s decision today in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade and fifty years’ of precedent protecting the right to abortion care, Rep. Jonathan Brostoff (D-Milwaukee) released the following statement:
“Today is a dark day for our country. In one fell swoop, six unelected extremist conservative Justices – five of whom were appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote – have overturned fifty years’ worth of settled precedent and stripped rights away from millions of Americans.
As we have known since time immemorial, ending legal abortion access does not end abortions – it only ends safe ones. To be very clear, people will die as a result of this decision.
Furthermore, for this decision to come down in a country that refuses to guarantee healthcare for its citizens, a country that has some of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the entire developed world, speaks to just how immoral this decision is. How can anyone who claims to be ‘pro-life’ celebrate this decision while they turn a blind eye to the plight of infants and mothers across our country? Nothing about this decision is pro-life – it is pro-forced birth, and damn the rest.
Today I am heartbroken for the teenagers who are grappling with one of the most difficult decisions of their lives, knowing that politicians that they’ve never met have restricted their options. I am heartbroken for the single mother who will need to find childcare, time off of work, and the financial means to travel out of state for healthcare access. I am heartbroken for the person in an abusive relationship who might be forced to stay because of an unwanted pregnancy. I am heartbroken for the victims of rape and incest here in Wisconsin who will be retraumatized every day they are forced to carry a pregnancy to term because Republicans in our state do not believe that those victims deserve compassion and freedom.
I am heartbroken. But I am as committed to this fight as I have ever been. I will continue to stand with women and pregnant people of all backgrounds and means as they fight for critical healthcare access. I will do all I can to see an end to the archaic restrictions that hold victims accountable for the crimes of their abusers. And I will never stop fighting to ensure that the generations yet to come have their fundamental rights not only returned to them, but expanded. No matter how long it takes, we will rebuild that future.”
