Here we are, with the U.S. Supreme Court about to overturn Roe v. Wade, and four in five Americans believe abortion should be legal in at least some circumstances.
Only in our gerrymandered America.
“The United States of America should not be a country where women are dying from back-alley abortions,” Seventh District Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger said Tuesday, amid reports that the Supremes have voted in conference to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, and are circulating a strongly-worded draft opinion that declares doctors and nurses involved in terminating pregnancies as “abortionists.”
“This is a profoundly personal issue with real consequences for the lives of American women,” Spanberger said. “Green-lighting states to ban abortion in all cases — including rape or incest — would only endanger the lives of those grappling with the hardest decision of their lives. These harrowing decisions should remain between a woman, her family, and her doctor.
“This leaked draft Supreme Court opinion is poised to erase a woman’s right to privacy and reproductive healthcare that has been settled law for nearly a half century. The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to codify Roe v. Wade. The U.S. Senate needs to follow suit and pass this bill,” Spanberger said.
Ah, but President Biden, channeling his inner centrist, declined to say today whether he would support eliminating the archaic Senate filibuster to be able to get that job done, which means, of course, that it won’t get done.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, pledged to hold a Senate vote on the legislation, saying “a vote on this legislation is no longer an abstract exercise — this is as urgent and real as it gets.”
“This is a dark and disturbing day for America,” Schumer said, because it is, with the pending ruling, confirmed as authentic by Chief Justice John Roberts in a statement released today, also threatening other constitutionally-protected privacy rights, including marriage rights.
Roberts, in his statement, announced that he would direct an investigation into the source of the leak, which is of course the pressing matter for conservatives, not the substance of the pending decision, but who tipped the world off.
“To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. The work of the Court will not be affected in any way,” Roberts said.
Great news, there.
This development with the pending decision no doubt throws a monkey wrench into the conventional wisdom that the 2022 midterms were destined to be a bloodbath for Democrats, whose voters will almost certainly be energized more than ever by the stunning political reversal of a half-century of judicial precedent.
“Roe v. Wade has been law since 1973, and I am deeply concerned by reports that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn this decision that protects a woman’s right to choose,” said Second District Congresswoman Elaine Luria, who like Spanberger in the Seventh District faces a tough battle for re-election in a competitive congressional district.
“If the leaked decision is made final, women across the country would be stripped of their constitutional rights to make choices about their own bodies,” Luria said. “This is a decision to be made between a woman, her healthcare provider, and her faith—it is not the place of government to dictate a woman’s choices. Banning abortion does not stop abortions, it only prevents women from receiving safe health care and medical services that they need. I will continue to fight to protect the fundamental rights of all Americans.”
Story by Chris Graham
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