[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 74 (Wednesday, May 4, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2294]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           U.S. Supreme Court

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I have taken this time to talk about 
National Small Business Week, but because of the events of the last 48 
hours, I need to comment on the Justice Alito draft opinion that, if it 
were adopted by the Supreme Court, would overturn Roe v. Wade.
  I find this draft opinion to be outrageous. It puts the health, well-
being, and constitutional rights of women across the Nation in great 
jeopardy, particularly those low-income women.
  Thirty-six million women of reproductive age would be at risk if the 
Alito opinion became the ruling of the Supreme Court.
  We look to our courts to protect and expand our constitutional 
protections, not to contract and weaken the constitutional protections, 
reversing nearly 50 years of legal precedent of Roe v. Wade.
  What we need to do is to make sure that this body does everything we 
can to protect women's rights and to protect their healthcare right to 
make their own decision.
  I am pleased that 16 States, including the District of Columbia, have 
taken action to protect women's rights, including my own State of 
Maryland, but we need to do more. We need to pass the Women's Health 
Protection Act. I am a cosponsor of that--proud to be a cosponsor of 
it--which would codify Roe v. Wade to protect reproductive rights for 
women. I hope we will have the opportunity to do that. I think we all 
recognize that we have a responsibility to act before the Supreme Court 
makes its ruling that could jeopardize the constitutional rights.