Freedom of Choice Act is Needed More Than Ever

Statement of NOW President Kim Gandy

April 19, 2007

In the wake of yesterday's Supreme Court Gonzales decision, women's rights supporters in Congress took immediate action, and I'm pleased to stand with them today to welcome the timely reintroduction of the Freedom of Choice Act of 2007.

Let this decision—which reversed a clear precedent requiring that a woman's health be protected—be a lesson to those Senators who thought it unseemly to filibuster Sam Alito's nomination. It is clear that this precedent, set in Roe and reaffirmed in Casey, was abandoned for no reason other than the replacement of Sandra Day O'Connor with Sam Alito.

Let this be a lesson to those Senators who said that O'Connor's seat was not "the important one," and who therefore did not put their considerable influence behind filling that seat with, if not a woman, at least a women's rights supporter.

Let this be a lesson to the newspaper editors who denounced the Alito filibuster and urged his confirmation—but who now rail against this inevitable outcome.

They are lessons the women of this country will not soon forget.

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For Immediate Release
Contact: Mai Shiozaki, 202-628-8669, ext. 116; cell 202-641-1906

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