Assemblyman Otis Statement on Supreme Court Decision in June Medical Services v Russo Case

The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision rejecting Louisiana’s effort to restrict the right of women to obtain an abortion is a reminder that the rule of law and right to choose remains threatened around the country. The decision is clearly consistent with a similar 2016 decision of the Supreme Court rejecting restrictions aimed at depriving reproductive choice to women in Texas. Another 5-4 decision reminds us how tenuous the preservation of reproductive rights remains.

This decision signals that the Court may continue to be skeptical of state efforts to use “clinic restrictions” as a method to deprive women of their right to medical services. But around the country many variations of laws aimed at interfering with the right of women to make their own medical decisions continue to be passed by state legislatures opposing women’s rights.

We must continue our vigilance throughout the country, as we have done in New York with the enactment of the Reproductive Health Act, legal protections for contraception and protections for women from interference in their own medical decisions by employers.