NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today released the following statement calling on both the federal government and states across the country to ensure women’s access to safe, legal abortions are not jeopardized or curtailed as a result of the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19):

“Nearly 50 years after Roe codified into law the fundamental right to an abortion for every woman in this country, anti-choice activists nationwide still work day-after-day to make it harder for women to access the abortion coverage they are constitutionally guaranteed. To be clear, the coronavirus is not an excuse for federal, state, or local governments to curtail women’s reproductive freedoms or limit their choices. Any woman who wants to go into a doctor’s office or into a clinic today and get an abortion should continue to be able to do so. And for those who do not feel comfortable leaving their homes as we battle COVID-19, we are fighting to maintain women’s access to abortion and the abortion pill so that their reproductive choices are not limited. The restrictions we are seeing be put into place are simply aimed at controlling women’s bodies, women’s choices, and women’s freedom, and I will do everything in my power to stop this attack on a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.”

Since taking office last January, Attorney General James has been a leader in the fight to protect women’s reproductive freedom.