On January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in  Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, a groundbreaking case that found - by the authority of United States Constitution - that pregnant women  are permitted to have an abortion  without state or federal government interference.  Less than a generation later, the spirit and application  of this law is being challenged yet a, as was revealed when a draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked to the press  on Monday, May 2, 2022.

We, the Green Party of Connecticut, believe in every person’s right to body autonomy, including children, youth and adults. We believe that decisions on comprehensive sexual and reproductive health - of which abortion is a part - are best made in consultation with the licensed medical professional of a person's choice.  Overturning Roe v. Wade would undermine the right to individual liberty and family and medical privacy that the Supreme Court has long held are implied in the Bill of Rights and would permit  further restrictions on reproductive services that would threaten the health and welfare of more than 73 million people of reproductive age across the country. According to Planned Parenthood, limiting access to safe abortion disproportionately affects the rural poor, migrants and non- White enthic groups -  specifically, 5.7 million Latino/Hispanic women, 5.3 million Black women, 1.1 million Asian American women and approximately 340,000 First Nation/American women, respectively. As has been found by Advancing New Studies in Reproductive Health's Turnaway Study, the socioeconomic impacts of being denied an abortion lead to financial hardship that may last four or more years.

Criminizing abortion will not end abortion, but will lead to unsafe, unregulated efforts to terminate pregnancies in working class and poor communities across the United States. We believe that legal protection for the full range of reproductive choices, the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, and securing universal health care including comprehensive reproductive health care for persons across the gender spectrum would solidify a more equitable approach to dismantling systemic health inequities from the ground up.

The recent expansion of Tweed Airport, near New Haven, reflects on a small scale the planning mistakes that are driving the destruction of our environment globally. It is no surprise when private developers ignore the environment in favor of short-term profits, but it is shameful when politicians support development that unnecessarily contributes to rapid climate change, is harmful to wetlands and biological diversity, and endangers the health and well-being of the people who live near it.

In 2019, Sean Scanlon, a Democratic state representative from one of the districts adjoining Tweed, was appointed as the airport’s Executive Director. Scanlon negotiated a $100 million dollar expansion deal giving a Goldman-Sachs affiliated company management control of the airport for the next forty years. Expansion began in 2021, including lengthening runways, building a new terminal, and bringing in a new carrier. As a result, the estimate for total passengers in 2022 is three times greater than it has been in past years.

The airport expansion unnecessarily duplicates existing air traffic resources. Metro North cheaply and easily transports travelers to two major international airports in New York City, while Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks moves between 2.5 and 3.5 million passengers a year. At a time when the development and expansion of real mass transit should be a high priority, Connecticut politicians got on board with a project that proposes to make significant profits for a few but harms the environment and the people.

The communities affected by the Tweed Airport expansion are loud and clear in their opposition. They know that jet fuel plays a substantial role in rapid climate change, the extended runways and increased traffic are harmful to the surrounding wetlands and wildlife, and the increased number of flights expose neighborhoods closest to the airport to loud jet noise and noxious jet fuel odor at all hours of the day and night.

The Tweed Airport expansion is bad for people and the environment and must be stopped. If elected Governor, I would immediately instruct Connecticut’s Department of Environmental Protection to scrutinize Tweed’s impact on wetlands, wildlife, and people; take prompt action for all violations of environmental standards; and impose any available penalties. I would also begin legal steps to oversee the down-sizing of Tweed Airport. That would include, if necessary, declaring an environmental emergency under the Connecticut Constitution and issuing executive orders to restrict the number and type of jet flights coming in and out of Tweed Airport.