Brookfield students protest Roe v. Wade draft opinion
About 65 students walk out of class
A group of about 65 Brookfield High School students stood up and walked out of class Wednesday morning in protest of a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion aiming to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Making their way to the bleachers, the crowd congregated with chants of “my body my choice” and “no uterus, no opinion.” They held signs, one with underlined words emphasizing the message: “Pro Choice the Radical Idea that Women are People.”
Organized by sophomores Caydence Jweinet, Hunter McCarthy, and Ashley Colombo, the halfhour walkout came with coordination between the group and Principal Marc
“I do think it should be up to the family. I’m pro-choice at the end of the day . ... It’s codified in Connecticut state law. What happens on a national level we really can’t control.” Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski in a 2018 interview with the Journal Inquirer of Manchester
law states that the decision to terminate a pregnancy before the fetus is viable is “solely that of the pregnant woman in consultation with her physician.” Abortion is prohibited after the fetus is viable “except to preserve the woman’s life or health.” Most experts estimate fetal viability to be about 23 or 24 weeks.
In recent days, Democrats, including Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, called on Stefanowski to make his position known on the bill strengthening abortion rights, which also expands the types of medical providers who can perform aspiration abortions, the most common type of inclinic abortion.
Lamont’s campaign issued a written statement Wednesday responding to Stefanowksi — not from the governor, but from Bysiewicz.
“Bob Stefanoswki is doing exactly what he does best — deceiving voters,” she said. “Following suit with Republicans in DC, Bob is only trying to deflect and distract voters from the fact that he is still refusing to say if he would veto any attempt to repeal Roe because he doesn’t want them to know his intentions.”
With uncertainty around the nearly 50-year-old precedent set by Roe v. Wade, Lamont has made a point of reaffirming his support for abortion rights, visiting a Planned Parenthood clinic in Hartford last month, and convening a large news conference outside the state Capitol this week to mark the signing of the abortion rights bill.
Stefanowski’s running mate, state Rep. Laura Devlin, R-Fairfield, was among seven Republicans who supported the bill.
“As your governor, I will do everything in my power to ensure that as a state we support and care for women facing these difficult decisions, and when chosen, abortions are safe and legal,” he said.
Stefanowski’s statement came on the same day that his campaign announced a fundraiser in Canton next month, which will feature Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, chairman of the Republican Governors Association and one of strongest anti-abortion voices in the U.S.
In a 2018 interview with the (Manchester) Journal Inquirer’s editorial board, Stefanowski described himself as pro-choice, but was less clear when asked about the possibility of Roe being overturned.
“I do think it should be up to the family,” he reportedly said. “I’m prochoice at the end of the day . ... It’s codified in Connecticut state law. What happens on a national level we really can’t control.”