Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan immediately condemned the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on Friday, while Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro said it did not change New York law.
The two men are set to face off in August in a special election for the 19th Congressional District to replace U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, who resigned the seat to become lieutenant governor. The winner will serve only through the remainder of the year, though both Ryan and Molinaro are seeking election to other Congressional seats this fall.
“This is a devastating decision for our country,” Ryan said by phone Friday morning. “It undercuts women’s freedom. It puts lives at risk. It rolls back 50 years of hard-won progress. And, ultimately…how can we be a free country if the government tries to control women’s bodies? As someone who risked my life to defend our Constitution, that is not the country and the set of values that I fought to defend.”
Ryan, a Democrat and Army veteran, said his campaign had just released a television ad directly condemning the Supreme Court’s decision.
Molinaro, a Republican, called the Supreme Court’s decision “an extremely sensitive issue that I am genuinely empathetic to.
“Individuals on both sides are rightfully very passionate about what is an intimate issue for women and families,” Molinaro said in an emailed statement. “The Supreme Court has decided this issue belongs to the states, where governments closer to the people they represent will set policy. While I have always personally believed in the sanctity of life, and remain opposed to late-term abortion, this decision doesn’t change New York’s settled law.”
If elected to Congress, Ryan said he would stand against any move on the federal level to make abortions illegal.
“Clearly, standing against that is going to be a critical step because we know many national Republicans have already called for that and see this decision as an opening to do so,” Ryan said. “I would obviously be firmly against that.” He also said everything that can be done must be done in New York to uphold a woman’s ability to safely have abortions. That includes welcoming women from other states where abortions may be banned, Ryan said.
“We know at least half the states in this country are likely to now ban abortions and that’s going to result in tragedy,” Ryan said. He said it would also mean the loss of lives and that people would end up traveling hundreds or thousands of miles to gain access to safe abortions.
“We’ve had two of the most consequential, seismic Supreme Court decisions in decades in the last 48 hours and my opponent in the race for Congress has said absolutely nothing about either so far,” Ryan added early Friday. “We need leaders right now who will clearly, unequivocally, take strong, clear positions and lead.” He said the country does not need “people who are going to triangulate and give watered-down statements when we have kids dying in schools and we have women’s fundamental freedoms under attack.”
Molinaro’s statement was issued just before 4 p.m. after an earlier version of this story was published. Molinaro’s campaign later said they were not “interested in discussing hypothetical votes” when asked how he would vote if a move was made to ban abortion at the federal level.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court issued a ruling granting Americans the right to carry firearms in public for self-defense, a move that struck down a New York gun law requiring people to demonstrate a particular need for carrying a gun in order to get a license to carry it in a concealed way in public.
Ryan, in a tweet, wrote that the court “failed to uphold New York’s Constitutional right to regulate firearms within its borders.”
Molinaro did not respond to phone calls and emails Thursday requesting a reaction to that decision.
On Friday, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court issued its decision to overturn Roe V. Wade, which is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states, according to the Associated Press. The ruling came more than a month after the leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito indicating the court was prepared to take this step.
Justice Clarence Thomas, part of Friday’s majority, also called on the court to overturn other high court rulings protecting same-sex marriage, gay sex, and the use of contraceptives, the Associated Press reported.
In addition to the special election on Aug. 23, Ryan is also running for the newly drawn 18th Congressional District in November against state Assemblyman Colin Schmitt, a Republican. Molinaro is running in November in the new 19th Congressional District against Democrats Jamie Cheney, Josh Riley, and Osun Zotique.
“Today’s final Supreme Court decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson returns the right to states and their duly elected leaders to decide abortion policy,” Schmitt said in a statement. “I am a pro-life legislator and, like the vast majority of New Yorkers, I strongly oppose the state’s radical abortion law that allows late-term abortions up to the moment of birth and allows non-doctors to perform abortions. Regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs and the overwhelming weight of public opinion, this law will, unfortunately, remain on the books.”
Cheney said in a statement that the Supreme Court’s decision “is an absolute disgrace, not only for its betrayal of nearly 50 years of legal precedent but also for the irreparable and unnecessary harm it will have on women across this country. Now more than ever, it is clear that we need strong women who intuitively understand the damage of these decisions representing us in Washington.” She said she would fight on behalf of the people of the 19th Congressional District against other fundamental rights being taken away.
In his own statement, Riley said the Supreme Court’s decision is an affront to progress, liberty, and women’s rights, and must not be allowed to stand.
“Congress must pass, and the president must sign, the Women’s Health Protection Act to restore a woman’s right to choose for herself whether to have an abortion,” Riley said. “In the meantime, the Justice Department must take all legal actions available to protect women’s access to abortion medications.”
On Twitter, Zotique wrote, “Roe just fell and it’s not OK,” linking to an Instagram post that, in part, thanked the Planned Parenthood of the Upper Hudson Valley for the vital work it does in providing everyone, especially the LGBTQIA+ community, with basic sex education and sexual wellness services. Zotique also wrote on Twitter that it was “a bleak day for women and LGBTQIA+ folks.”
Elsewhere in the state, Delgado and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand each issued statements reacting to the court decision.
Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said more than half of the American population became “second-class citizens, stripped of their constitutional right to privacy and bodily autonomy, regardless of where they live.” She said Democrats at the federal level would fight to eliminate the filibuster and enshrine reproductive freedom into law.
Delgado said he would stand firmly with other New York leaders to make sure the state would always be a place where a person’s rights are protected and freedoms ensured.
New York Attorney General Letitia James called the ruling “a vicious, dangerous, and deliberate attack on our most basic freedom as humans.” She said regardless of the situation at the federal level, New York would always be a safe haven for anyone seeking an abortion.
