ABORTION THUNDERCLAP— Last night, POLITICO published an initial draft majority opinion from the Supreme Court that indicated five justices are prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade. Today, brace for a political earthquake. "Roe was egregiously wrong from the start," Justice Samuel Alito writes. In the draft opinion, written by Alito, a majority of the court voted to overturn the precedent set by Roe in 1973 establishing a constitutional right to abortion and the 1992 decision upholding the right to abortion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The initial draft opinion runs 98 pages, including a 31-page appendix of historical state abortion laws… But Josh Gerstein pulled 10 key passages from Alito's draft if you don't have all day. END OF ROE SENDS DEMS REELING— Responses from Democratic lawmakers ran from deeply personal stories to calls for abolishing the filibuster and codifying Roe's protection of abortion rights. "The Republican-appointed Justices' reported votes to overturn Roe v. Wade would go down as an abomination, one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history," Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement late Monday. They said the decision would be the "greatest restriction of rights in the past fifty years." Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who once worked at Planned Parenthood in her home state, tweeted simply, "This is bullshit." Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, tweeted: "As one of the 1 in 4 women in this country who have chosen to have an abortion, I am outraged & disgusted by the reported draft SCOTUS opinion." Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) sounded the alarm: "If tonight's news is true, Michigan's 1931 state law banning abortion would snap back into effect, making any abortion illegal in our state — even if the mom will die, or if she was raped by a family member. No exceptions," she tweeted. "My poor mother is turning over in her grave." Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted: "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." Some Republicans were rejoicing, while others focused on the source of the decision (and some did both in the same tweet.) "There is no constitutional right to an abortion, and there never has been. Court, stand strong!," tweeted Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.). "This is nothing short of a massive victory for life and will save the lives of millions of innocent babies," tweeted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), before also calling the disclosure "a shocking breach of trust." "This is the best news of our lifetime," tweeted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) "This is a great victory. This is a great victory for God." Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a former Alito clerk, focused his Fox News appearance on the source of the disclosure: "This entire kerfuffle has been brought about as a result of an unscrupulous person trying to subvert 235 years of tradition, trying to subvert the way the Supreme Court operates." Josh Gerstein has more on disclosure of the document: How rare is a Supreme Court breach? Very rare POLITICAL CALCULUS— Beyond the public outpouring on social media and press releases, Democrats were making private predictions Monday about how the court's potential decision on abortion rights could change the outlook for the midterm elections, energizing their base and boosting voter turnout in November. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), who leads the House Democratic Campaign Committee, called abortion rights "the central choice in the 2022 election." But several Democrats acknowledged to Sarah and Marianne on Monday night that campaigning on the court's potential rejection of abortion rights would likely require them to do something they've typically struggled with in election years — go on the offensive to challenge the GOP on an issue that galvanizes its base. Codifying Roe: Multiple Democrats predicted in conversations Monday night that both chambers will want to vote to codify abortion rights. The House already passed legislation in the fall that would codify Roe v. Wade and prohibit states from enacting abortion restrictions both later and earlier in pregnancy. But a 46-48 Senate vote in February made clear the challenge in the Senate of even getting a simple majority on abortion legislation. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) opposes abortion and voted with Republicans. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who support abortion rights, also voted against the legislation. Sarah and Marianne examine the political dynamics in the immediate aftermath of the initial draft opinion: Democrats hope draft abortion opinion will jolt midterm elections |
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