California Sen. Alex Padilla’s Vow to Restore Abortion Access Sparks Constitutional Criticism: ‘Murdering the Unborn Was a Right?’

Sen. Alex Padilla’s Dobbs anniversary message on X frames abortion as a fundamental right and draws sharp criticism from users.
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California Sen. Alex Padilla posted on X marking four years since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade. In the post, Padilla stated that women today have fewer rights than their grandmothers, described abortion as healthcare and a fundamental right, and vowed to keep fighting to restore access nationwide. The message prompted strong reactions online, with users challenging the healthcare framing and raising constitutional questions about federal authority over the issue.

The video shows Sen. Alex Padilla speaking in a studio setting. In the clip, he states that “a woman trying to make decisions about her own healthcare is a fundamental right,” but that four years ago, “a right-wing majority of the Supreme Court overturned nearly five decades of precedent.” He describes the Dobbs decision as “the culmination of decades of Republican efforts to deny women fundamental rights, not just over their health, but over their own autonomy,” calling the situation “not right” and “shameful.”

He continues in the video that the American people are rejecting the ruling, with more support than ever for a woman’s right to choose, yet “Republicans keep doubling down, pushing to restrict women’s rights even further” by trying to defund Planned Parenthood and other providers, ban access to abortion pills, and block protections for IVF.

Padilla concludes that “we will continue to stand up, speak out and keep pushing until Roe v. Wade is codified into law because a woman’s right to choose is too important to ever give up.”

Some users questioned the description of abortion as healthcare, with one asking, “Abortion is healthcare”? Really. Is pregnancy a disease? Is that your position?”

Others framed the procedure as ending a life, including the comment, “Murdering the unborn was a right?”

Constitutional points were also raised, such as the statement that “The federal government was not delegated power over healthcare in the Constitution, nor any amendments,” and that the Supreme Court had “illegally usurped power 50 years ago.”

Additional replies noted that “Abortion was never a ‘right’ according to this country’s Bill of Rights” and expressed that early Americans valued “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

One commenter suggested the position targets specific communities, stating that “it is directed at Black American women to encourage abortions, while others have higher birth rates.”

The senator’s remarks add to the ongoing national conversation about reproductive rights four years after the Dobbs decision. Discussion of the post and video continues on X as users on different sides of the issue share their views.