DeGette Statement on Third Anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Diana DeGette (CO-01), Co-Chair of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus, released the following statement on the third anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling.

“Three years ago today, the Supreme Court took the unprecedented step of stripping Americans of a constitutional right it had previously guaranteed, ending nearly 50 years of legal precedent by dismantling Roe v. Wade.

“Just last month, under the orders of Donald Trump, House Republicans voted to defund Planned Parenthood. The Big Ugly Bill he’s trying to force through Congress would block Medicaid reimbursements to its health centers and ban abortion coverage on ACA plans—moves that would create chaos in the insurance market. These policies would devastate access to care for over one million Medicaid recipients who rely on Planned Parenthood each year, slashing access to maternity care, birth control, cancer screenings, and more.

“This is only the latest attack. Over the past three years, 20 states have enacted abortion bans, leaving millions of people without access to essential care. And we’ve seen patients forced to travel hundreds of miles across state lines, facing delays and uncertainty. In my home state of Colorado—a critical haven for care in the Mountain West—we’ve seen one of the largest increases in out-of-state patients in the country. Our clinics are strained, providers are overwhelmed, and our constituents are facing longer wait times for basic reproductive care.

“As Co-Chair of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus, I refuse to let this extremist vision go unchallenged. I’m proud to lead the fight in Congress to restore the protections of Roe through the Women’s Health Protection Act—a landmark bill that would ensure the right to abortion nationwide, regardless of your ZIP code.

“I stand with the majority of Americans who believe health care decisions should be made by patients and their doctors, not politicians, not judges, and not a radical minority trying to impose their beliefs on the rest of us. We will not stop until every person—no matter who they are or where they live—has the freedom to make their own reproductive health care decisions.”

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