Dear Friends,

It was exactly one year ago today when the Supreme Court wrote in its opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, “the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.”

With those words, 50 years of precedent were shattered, and an essential, protected freedom in this country disappeared.   

Hours after the decision was announced, my wife Mary and I walked from my office in the Rayburn Building to the Supreme Court. There were hundreds of protesters— men and women, young and old — waving signs with slogans like “Bans Off Our Bodies”, “I Will Not Go Back to the 50s”, and “This Will Kill Women." The scene was one of deep despair and anger, but also resolve.

The data is bleak; abortion bans trap women in cycles of poverty, undermine education access, and decrease economic security. Anti-abortion restrictions entrench women, particularly marginalized groups and people of color, in systems of inequality and economic insecurity, with 3/4ths of abortion patients being low-income according to the Guttmacher Institute. Stripping away reproductive freedom is akin to taking away a woman’s right to control her own destiny.

In the year since, there is no denying that the reversal of Roe v. Wade awoke a powerful movement. Women around the country found the Court’s decision a cultural upheaval that told them their personal liberty is conditional, not equal, and their bodily autonomy is illusory, not an inherent human right. Across America, from Kansas to Michigan, Minnesota to California, states saw historic turnout at polls, all voting overwhelmingly to protect abortion and reproductive healthcare access in ballot measures.

Still, many states moved to restrict access even further. Idaho passed a law explicitly restricting some out-of-state travel for abortions. In Florida, it’s illegal to obtain an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know that they are pregnant. Perhaps most concerningly, mere months after the decision, Senator Lindsey Graham proposed legislation that would create a federal ban on abortions.

I remain steadfast alongside my colleagues in Congress in the fight to restore nationwide access to abortion care. I am proud to cosponsor legislation that would protect access to contraception and an individual’s right to travel across state lines to obtain abortion care, and to support the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify abortion access into federal law.

Connecticut’s laws protecting a woman’s right to choose are among the nation’s strongest, but access to basic healthcare should not be determined by zip code. Please know that I hear you, and I remain committed to preserving Americans’ human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Sincerely,

Jim