State Senator Bobby Powell (D-West Palm Beach) on Friday released the following statement in response to the release of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade:
“This is an incredibly sad day for the rights of women here in Florida and throughout this entire nation. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson ruling upends protections women have relied on for half a century, and further emboldens right-wing politicians whose supposed concern about protecting life, as we’ve seen time and time again, typically ends once that child is born.
“While abortion remains legal here in Florida, I fully expect renewed attempts by conservative lawmakers and an ambitious governor to further erode that freedom in light of today’s ruling. Whether they will attempt an outright ban and challenge Florida’s constitutionally protected privacy provisions in pursuit of their authoritarian agenda is yet to be seen. But as we saw with anti-choice legislation this past session, and their outright rejection of exceptions for victims of rape, incest, and human trafficking, in Florida, conservative politics trump women’s rights.
“Finally, today’s decision is also a poignant reminder that elections matter. This unfortunate decision by our country’s highest court is one of the lasting, and most damaging, legacies of Donald Trump and his highly controversial picks to serve on the Supreme Court. The fate of a woman’s right to control her own body was sealed the moment these justices took their seats on the high court.”
