If Justices Were Corporations, They'd Be Investigated for Fraud, Senator Says
"I think they misled the Senate, with the intention of getting their confirmation vote, with the intention of overruling Roe," Gillibrand says
The Supreme Court justices who have attached themselves to the draft decision to strike down Roe v Wade — including author Samuel Alito — all purposefully misled the Senate to win confirmation to the nation's highest court.
So said Sen Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who has been at the forefront of calling out the five members of the Supreme Court who appear poised to overturn almost a full 50 years of guaranteed access to abortions nationwide.
Further, if the justices were corporations and made fraudulent statements, they would certainly be investigated, added Gillibrand.
Like others across the country, Gillibrand has been reeling since Politico last Monday published a leaked copy of the draft Alito penned which would remove the guarantee to abortion services which women have enjoyed for a half century.
Gillibrand, particularly, has focused on the fact that each of the justices were asked, in the course of their respective confirmation hearings, and each offered some variation on affirming Roe v Wade as important precedent and “settled law.”
“You know, I come at this issue from the perspective of a lawyer who worked in fraud all the time, corporate fraud. If a corporation put these kinds of statements in their quarterly filings, they would be seen to be purposefully misleading and it would be deemed fraud,” she said. “So, I think all their statements should be looked at very, very carefully. And I think they misled the Senate, with the intention of getting their confirmation vote, with the intention of overruling Roe.
“And so, I'm very concerned that these justices have crossed a line that no one believed would be crossed, that they would purposefully create the impression that they would not overrule settled precedent, and that it was not only deserving of due weight and the importance of precedent, but because it had been reaffirmed, that it deserves more weight, and then go ahead and overturn it, especially with the reasoning that Justice Alito makes in this draft opinion. It's outrageous,” Gillibrand added, in an on-camera interview with CNN host Jake Tapper.
Abortion rights on the ballot
She's also eager to let voters know that abortion rights will be on the ballot in the crucial 2022 midterm elections.
The Supreme Court’s apparent position on abortion rights should prove to be motivation, Gillibrand said.
"Every one of us is standing up, speaking out, rallying, marching, talking to our constituents, lifting up their voices and their stories. This is the biggest fight of a generation, Jake,” she said. “And if America's people, America's women and men who love them do not fight right now, we will lose the basic right to make decisions, to have bodily autonomy, and to decide what our futures look like. This is a fundamental moment for advocacy and for not giving up.
“And so, what I'm doing and what many of my colleagues are doing are pushing for a vote next week,” Gillibrand said. “We are going to be aggressive with all our colleagues and with our Republican allies to vote for codifying Roe v. Wade. We are not giving up. We will never give in and we will keep fighting. And if the American people are paying attention, this issue will also be on the ballot in November.
“We need to make sure that every single voter understands that the Republican Party and Mitch McConnell does not believe that their daughters, that their mothers, that their sisters have rights to make fundamental life-and-death decisions. We are half-citizens under this ruling. And if this is put into law, it changes the foundation of America,” she said.
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