Statement From New York State Senator Luis R. Sepúlveda on SCOTUS Overturning Roe v. Wade

Today is a catastrophic day for all Americans. A few hours ago, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned decades of support for the constitutional right to an abortion. Across the country, we are grappling with a dangerous reversal of several years of advocacy that not only ignores the basic constitutional rights of Americans but also insults years of progression. 

In the State of New York, our leadership has never strayed from being bold and courageous as it relates to progressive policy that sustains the right to choose and upholds women's reproductive rights. Currently, in New York, abortions are still legal for up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, and after that in special circumstances. In the New York State Senate, we have passed several pieces of legislation that protect, preserve, and expand on these basic human rights. 

I am extremely shattered to see the country that I love moving in a direction that counters these basic rights. I stand committed in this fight and promise to be vigilant to ways that we can uphold the basic necessity to safe and legal abortions. As our communities know too well, the highest price is always paid by low-income communities like the one I represent in the Bronx.

I stand firmly on protecting women's reproductive rights and stand my strenuous opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court decision.

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