Planned Parenthood Statement on Leaked Supreme Court Opinion Overturning Roe v Wade
For Immediate Release: May 3, 2022
Abortion is still legal
Last night, Politico published a leaked draft Supreme Court majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that explicitly overturns Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The draft majority opinion, written by Justice Alito, openly overrules Roe and Casey, stating that “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start” and “we hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled.”
It is important to note that while this opinion is still a draft and abortion is still legal across the country (though only up to six weeks of pregnancy in Texas), this leaked opinion is horrifying and unprecedented, and it confirms that the Supreme Court is prepared to end the constitutional right to abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade.
Legal abortion has been protected in Maine state law since 1993 when the Reproductive Privacy Act became law. If the Supreme Court allows states to ban abortion, 26 states are certain or likely to ban abortion, but the Reproductive Privacy Act ensures that Maine will not be one of them.
Statement from Nicole Clegg, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund
“If the Supreme Court allows states to ban abortion, we do not anticipate immediate changes to abortion laws in Maine. But elections matter. If a majority of anti-abortion politicians take control of the legislature or the Blaine House, they could pass laws restricting or even banning abortion.
“At Planned Parenthood, we know that banning abortion does not take away people’s need to access abortion care. Patients who need to access abortion should not face the shame and overwhelming hurdles that will come from this decision. And we will do everything we can to help those patients get abortion care safely. “
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