Congress Must Act to Protect Reproductive Freedom

By Josh Riley

Last summer, the Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson, which overturned Roe v. Wade and tossed aside nearly y years of legal precedent establishing a woman’s constitutional right to make her own reproductive healthcare decisions. In Dobbs, the Court ruled that politicians may ban or signi cantly restrict access to abortion–even in cases of rape or incest and even when the mother’s life is at risk.

At the time, I argued that the Court’s decision undermined the Constitution’s guarantees of liberty and equality, and I set forth a legislative and regulatory plan of action to protect abortion access in a post-Dobbs world. I also urged the U.S. Justice Department to defend women’s access to abortion medications that were approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, including by challenging the constitutionality of con icting state laws if necessary. ose legal actions are important because abortion medications–which are approved for the rst ten weeks