“Reported votes of Republican-appointed justices to overturn Roe vs. Wade would go down as an abomination, one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement Monday. at night. They said the decision would be the “greatest restriction of rights in the last fifty years.”
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (DN.Y.), who heads the House Democratic Campaign Committee, called it “the pivotal pick in the 2022 election.”
Privately, however, several Democrats acknowledged that campaigning on the court’s possible rejection of abortion rights would likely force them to do something they have typically struggled with in election years: challenge the GOP on an issue that galvanizes to its base.
The Supreme Court has yet to issue its final decision in a pending case that challenged Roe vs. Wade. Yet the now-imminent threat of the 1973 abortion-rights ruling is already permeating Democrats’ midterm message, with House and Senate campaign leaders issuing statements condemning the impending court announcement.
The executive director of the Democratic Senate campaign arm, Christie Roberts, said Monday night that the reported draft opinion “has dramatically increased the stakes in the 2022 election.” She called for expanding the House Democratic majority “to confirm or reject Supreme Court justices.”
the perspective of roe The disappearance also prompted new calls from Democratic Senate candidates in battleground states, including John Fetterman in Pennsylvania, Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin and Tim Ryan in Ohio, to end legislative filibuster to enact abortion rights into law. . But there is almost no chance that the evenly split Senate will remove the 60-vote threshold required to pass most bills.
Dozens of Democrats, including their most vulnerable lawmakers and governors facing re-election in the fall, also took to Twitter to warn of the consequences if the law is reversed.
“Our work is more important than ever. I will fight like hell to protect abortion access in Michigan,” Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer tweeted. signaling a lawsuit you are supporting intended to preserve the right to abortion in your state.
Another Michigan Democrat in political jeopardy, Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a louder alarm sounded: “If tonight’s news is true, Michigan’s 1931 state law banning abortion would go back into effect, making any abortion illegal in our state, even if the mother dies or was raped by a member of the family. No exceptions,” she tweeted. “My poor mother turns over in her grave.”
Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), a member of the party leadership, said the court’s draft majority opinion “would make the dystopian horrors of forced pregnancy a reality.” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, tweeted: “As one of the 1 in 4 women in this country who has chosen to have an abortion, I am outraged and disgusted by the reported SCOTUS draft. opinion.”
Many Republican lawmakers refrained from public comment Monday night. Those who did, like Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), focused on the “unprecedented breach of confidentiality.”
Outside the Supreme Court, hundreds of pro-choice protesters gathered at 10:30 pm Bicycle racks were set up as temporary barricades in front of the courthouse steps.
The crowd erupted in various chants, including “fill the court”, “women’s rights” and several insults to Judge Samuel Alito, author of the draft of the majority opinion. The calm atmosphere suddenly turned tense when a handful of anti-abortion rights protesters entered the scene, shouting, “Hey, hey, ho ho, Roe vs. Wade has to go.
The pro-abortion rights crowd tried to drown them out by chanting, “Hey, hey, ho ho, you sexist fascists need to go,” and began yelling at the anti-abortion rights protesters as they waded through the crowd to stand in front of the crowd. them. of the Court. Still, the two groups remained nonviolent at 11 p.m.
If the Supreme Court’s decision becomes final (a ruling is expected to be published in June), the push for abortion rights will shift to Congress. But with Democrats in charge of the Senate by a slim margin, the party would need 10 Republicans to back any legislation to get it to President Joe Biden’s desk.
Multiple Democrats predicted that both houses will want to vote to codify abortion rights in the wake of POLITICO’s coverage of the opinion bill. That move, which vulnerable Democrats like Slotkin and Senator Maggie Hassan (DN.H.) also endorsed Monday night, would force Republicans to choose a side, even if the vote ultimately goes nowhere in the Senate.
The House already passed legislation in the fall that codified Roe vs. Wade and prohibited states from enacting restrictions on abortion either later or earlier in pregnancy. But the bill stalled in the Senate in February.
The 46-48 count of that vote highlighted the uphill challenge in the Senate to win a simple majority on legislation to codify Roe. Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) opposes abortion and voted with the Republicans. Meanwhile, Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who support abortion rights, also voted against the legislation.
Kate Irby contributed to this report.
Reference-www.politico.com