A week after a Supreme Court decision allowed a controversial new abortion law to take effect in Texas, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey on Wednesday said the nation’s highest court had Roe v. Wade in its “crosshairs” and touted his proposal to expand the court’s membership.
Joined by pro-choice advocates in front of the John Adams Courthouse in Pemberton Square, Markey said the Supreme Court is “now poised to overturn or severely modify” the Roe decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
“Too many Americans view our highest court in the land as a partisan, political institution, not our impartial judicial branch of government,” said Markey, who charged Wednesday that the current court is “illegitimate” and was “packed” by Republicans during the Trump presidency.
Markey’s bill, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate in April and now sits in the Judiciary Committee, would add four new seats to the court raising its membership from nine to 13. The court’s Sept. 1 decision not to block the Texas law from taking effect was 5-4.
Markey said he sees an “active, aggressive, and very potentially successful effort to overturn Roe versus Wade” on the horizon. Advocates indicated they see the “fight” visiting all states, including Massachusetts.
Jennifer Childs-Roshak, CEO of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said pro-choice supporters “must fight city by city, state by state, to ensure that people can always access abortion care.”
“Massachusetts will be the national leader in that fight,” said Rebecca Hart Holder of NARAL Pro-Choice MA. “We will support abortion funds and advocates in Texas and in other states facing these bans. We will continue to support advocates across the country trying to expand access to reproductive health care rather than restrict it. And we will grow our pro-choice majority right here in Massachusetts at every level of government.”
Last session, just over 100 out of 160 Massachusetts state representatives received an “A” from NARAL on their legislative scorecard. In the Senate, 32 out of 40 lawmakers were ranked as pro-choice. Gov. Charlie Baker, who has yet to disclose his plans for the 2022 election cycle, is a pro-choice Republican who has faced criticism from some Democrats over his stances on some access expansions.
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