Connecticut’s elected Democrats are pushing to amend the state’s constitution to include access to abortions, in case abortion becomes illegal at the federal level.
“A legislative committee on Friday endorsed a proposal to enshrine the right to abortion in the Connecticut Constitution,” The Hartford Courant said. “The concept is in its earliest stages — the language of the proposed constitutional amendment has yet to be drafted — but it has already drawn support from Democrats and criticism from Republicans.”
Senator Mae Flexer (D-Killingly) is the ringleader of the plan who, calling it a “scary time” for abortion seekers nationwide, said she devised the plan after legislators in Vermont approved a similar amendment to that state’s constitution. Vermont still has not enacted the change, which will have to be approved via a referendum of voters this November.
Flexer also noted that “Connecticut proudly has some of the strongest laws in the country to protect women’s reproductive rights.”
In order to amend the state’s constitution, three-fourths of the elected officials in both chambers of the state legislature will have to vote in favor of the the amendment. Otherwise, the constitution can be amended with a majority vote in both chambers of the legislature in two consecutive legislative sessions. If the amendment overcomes one of these hurdles, it then goes to Connecticut’s residents for a referendum.
Republicans oppose the proposed amendment.
The urgency driving the proposed amendment stems from a landmark abortion case that is set to be decided by the right-leaning United States Supreme Court in the near future.
The state of Mississippi, which passed a law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, was sued by an abortion clinic over that law. The case has made its way to the nation’s highest court, and could effectively “overturn” Roe v. Wade, the 50-year-old Supreme Court case whose decision effectively guaranteed abortion access nationwide.
The Mississippi case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is set to be decided upon in late April.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mae Flexer” by Mae Flexer.
