Gov. Kim Reynolds: Overturn ‘tragic’ Roe v. Wade

DES MOINES --- Republican Govs. Kim Reynolds of Iowa and Kristi Noem of South Dakota on Monday reiterated their hope that an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case will begin the process of overturning a landmark 1973 decision that protected Americans’ abortion rights.

During a briefing hosted by the anti-abortion rights group Susan B. Anthony List, Noem spoke and Reynolds was heard via a recorded message. Reynolds called Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a 1992 ruling that affirmed Roe, “tragic” and “incoherent.”

Oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which centers on a new anti-abortion rights law in Mississippi, are scheduled to be conducted Wednesday. At the heart of the case is whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional.

“With Dobbs, the Supreme Court can strike a blow for democratic self-government, restore constitutional integrity and right historic wrongs,” Reynolds said in her recorded message.

Reynolds earlier this year joined Republican governors in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, and in her own request asked the Iowa Supreme Court to overturn its recent ruling that protected abortion rights in the state. She has also signed two bills that would have required a waiting period before a woman could get an abortion, but both were struck down by the courts.

Noem called the latest U.S. Supreme Court case “the most important oral argument that we will have in decades.”

Conservatives who have prioritized limiting or eliminating legal abortions have hope that a newly conservative U.S. Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade. Republican former President Donald Trump appointed three justices during his lone term in office, giving the high court a 6-3 conservative majority.

Kristin Ford, the vice president of communications and research for NARAL Pro-Choice America, also called Dobbs v. Jackson “a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade.”

“The anti-choice movement has spent decades attacking reproductive freedom and the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case is the culmination of its efforts to end legal abortion in its entirety,” said. “Make no mistake: This case is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade and any ruling upholding Mississippi’s ban will end the constitutional right to abortion as we know it. …

“The future of abortion access in our country is now hanging in the balance --- and we won’t forget about the politicians who put our rights and freedom on the line come Election Day.”