The Senate Judiciary Committee recently held a hearing to discuss the legal fallout of Dobbs v. Jackson and to listen to witness testimony.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) presided at the July 12 hearing, and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who strongly supports the Dobbs ruling, gave the opening statement during the Senate Judiciary Committee proceedings.
Witnesses included Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, Khiara Bridges, Dr. Colleen McNicholas, Denise Harle and Heidi Matzke.
"We’re here because the Supreme Court has corrected a wrong that has impacted millions of lives since 1973. We’re here because the Supreme Court, in a meticulous and well-reasoned opinion, returned the decision of abortion back to the states," Grassley said at the hearing. "For many Americans this decision is about far more than correcting a flawed legal analysis in Roe; it means protecting the rights of the unborn."
In her testimony, Stratton, argued from a pro-choice stance, using her perspective as a public official to discuss the political ramifications of abortion bans. Stratton defended Illinois’ largely pro-choice policies, argued that the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs was illegitimate, and asserted that “before the threats to Roe v. Wade were fully realized, Illinois was proactive, upholding bodily autonomy, and protecting the right to an abortion. ... Overturning of Roe v. Wade has sent us down a dark, agonizing path.”
Bridges, a law professor at the UC Berkeley School of Law, also approached the Dobbs decision from a pro-choice stance, relying on court precedent and case law to explain her position. She also discussed how lack of abortion access may disproportionately impact Black Americans. She argued “the overruling of Roe v. Wade inflicts a racial injury and necessitates the exploration of other avenues to ground federal constitutions protections for the right to abortion, including the 13th Amendment and the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause."
Until that happens, she added, "we are left with the devastating consequences of a politically motivated Supreme Court decision that will affect the health and lives of people across the country and disproportionately impact black women and black people who can become pregnant.”
McNicholas, the chief medical officer at the Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri made similar points to Stratton and Bridges. She supported Roe v. Wade and advocated for abortion rights. McNicholas is an OBGYN and—before the Dobbs ruling—performed abortions at a Planned Parenthood in St. Louis. Her statement concluded with the assertion that “Abortion is normal. Abortion is an act of love. Abortion is health care.”
Next to testify was Harle, senior counsel and director of The Center for Life at Alliance Defending Freedom. Harle provided an overview of the legal rationale behind Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey—citing legal scholars who critique the reasoning within both cases. Harle also defended the pro-life position.
“This is what a post-Roe America looks like, a nation where states are unshackled from the judicially imposed restraints of Roe so that the 'people’s elected representatives' can not only affirm that life is a human right but can also innovate and cultivate a true culture of life that holistically uplifts and supports women,” she said.
In her congressional testimony, Matzke, the executive director for the Alternatives Pregnancy Center, discussed the work and objectives of anti-abortion pregnancy centers, asserting that crisis pregnancy centers may have a larger role to play in an the U.S. without Roe v. Wade.
“Over the last five years, pregnancy care centers like ours have served nearly 2 million women who were faced with an unplanned pregnancy and wanted an alternative to abortion," she said. "But these facts are not being reported. Instead, whether from ignorance about who we are or from the spreading of deliberate misinformation about what we do, pregnancy care centers from coast to coast have been the targets of violent assaults of vandalism and hateful attacks online and in the media.”
