| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 28, 2000 |
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Statement by Judith L. Lichtman, President
National
Partnership for Women & Families
Today's ruling striking down Nebraska's extreme and dangerous law preserves the fundamental principles established by Roe v. Wade -- for now. But the narrow 5-4 majority underscores once again that women's right to choose abortion hangs by a thread in this country.
The Nebraska law clearly violates Roe v. Wade, and poses a serious threat to women's health. It is particularly encouraging that the Court today emphasized the need for an exception to protect women's health. And the Court said that laws like Nebraska's are so over-broad as to be an undue burden on a woman's right to choose.
As Justice Ginsberg writes, and as Seventh Circuit Chief Judge Posner wrote regarding similar laws in Wisconsin and Illinois, we must never forget that these deceptive laws are the work of State legislators bent on chipping away at Roe and the fundamental right to choose. Only by a 5-4 decision did the Supreme Court uphold the principle that states may not intrude on the most difficult personal decisions a woman may have to make.
We must remain vigilant. The future of women's reproductive rights lies with the next President, who will almost certainly appoint several justices to the Supreme Court. The stark reality of today's 5-4 decision is that, if Americans elect a president who appoints anti-choice justices, women stand to lose their fundamental right to choose.
National Partnership for Women & Families.
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