Democrats Begin Reacting to SCOTUS Decision To Strike Down Abortion Rights
Democrats begin to plot future plans
Social media lit up bright Monday night, with the news that the Supreme Court appears poised to strike down Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 decision which has provided a national guarantee of abortion rights for nearly a half-century.
In a nearly unprecedented move in Supreme Court history, someone leaked a draft decision written by Samuel Alito in February and joined by four of the justices appointed by Republicans.
Politico obtained the draft and published a story late Monday.
A prominent legal analyst and former US attorney during the Obama administration confirmed that draft appears authentic, even as she cautioned that draft decisions can change.
“The document leaked to Politico is almost certainly an authentic draft opinion by J. Alito that reflects what he believes at least 5 members of the Court have voted to support — overruling Roe. But as Alito’s draft, it does not reflect the comments or reactions of other Justices,” tweeted Joyce Vance.
Four of the Republican appointees have voted to sign onto the Alito decision, according to Politico.
Vance, who appears regularly on the MSNBC network, also warned that additional rights are now in jeopardy.
“The Alito draft opinion in [the] Dobbs [case before the court] confirms that other rights are at risk. Not just contraception (Griswold) but marriage equality (Obergefell) & possibly even the ban on anti-miscegenation laws (Loving),” White added.
News of Alito's draft decision brought demonstrators on both sides of the abortion debate to impromptu gatherings outside the Supreme Court in Washington DC.
“As you can see, there are more pro abortion protesters but the anti abortion protesters have a megaphone, drums and a ukulele,” journalist Eric Michael Garcia reported.
If the high court follows through on this decision, the only constitutional avenue to secure a national right to abortion will be through federal legislation.
Democratic lawmakers began speaking out as soon as the news broke.
“Congress must pass legislation that codifies Roe v. Wade as the law of the land in this country NOW. And if there aren’t 60 votes in the Senate to do it, and there are not, we must end the filibuster to pass it with 50 votes,” tweeted Sen Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats.
Meanwhile, Sen Ed Markey (D-Mass) raised anew the issue of expanding the Supreme Court, an idea which gained currency among some Democrats around the 2020 presidential election, noting that former president Donald Trump appointed justices to two “stolen seats,” meaning those occupied by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett.
Gorsuch was installed after Senate Republicans refused to even give a hearing to President Barack Obama's high court pick in 2016, leaving it open for Trump to fill. And Barrett was seated in a rushed fashion after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away just weeks before Election Day in 2020.
“A stolen, illegitimate, and far-right Supreme Court majority appears set to destroy the right to abortion, an essential right which protects the health, safety, and freedom of millions of Americans. There is no other recourse. We must expand the court,” Markey tweeted.
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