Attorney General Neronha statement on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

Published on Friday, June 24, 2022

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney General Peter F. Neronha issued the following statement in reaction to the Supreme Court of the United States' decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade and its progeny:

“For nearly half a century following the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, a woman’s right to choose whether to end her pregnancy has been an established, fundamental right. Indeed, that fundamental right has been so firmly established over the lives of multiple generations of Americans that until recently, the notion of the Supreme Court going backwards in time and eliminating it has been unthinkable. And yet that is precisely what the Supreme Court has done today, in a decision that endangers women’s health and turns the Court’s own long-standing principles recognizing the critical importance of adhering to legal precedent on their head.”

“Abortion is healthcare, and today's decision upending almost 50 years of precedent threatens essential healthcare access in states across the country where abortion is restricted under state law.

"I want to reassure Rhode Islanders that the right to an abortion remains protected here in Rhode Island. In 2019, Rhode Island codified Roe v. Wade and its progeny under our state's Reproductive Privacy Act, ensuring that Rhode Island will not return to the days of illegal and unsafe abortions that endanger lives and create criminal liability for physicians.

"My Office has successfully defended our Reproductive Privacy Act from a legal challenge before and we stand ready to defend it in the future."

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