'This Is Devastating,' Massachusetts Lawmakers On Leaked Draft Suggesting Supreme Court May Overturn Roe V. Wade
BOSTON (CBS) – A leaked draft opinion suggests the Supreme Court is prepared to strike down Roe. v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. Chief Justice John Roberts denounced the publication of the leaked draft by Politico saying the court is launching an investigation.
The draft states that the majority of nine justices believe the law should be overturned on the grounds that it was "egregiously wrong from the start." The ruling would send the issue of abortion back to the states to decide.
The draft appears to have been written in February and opinions can change and get rewritten many times. In a statement Tuesday, the court confirmed the document is authentic, but added that the draft is not their final decision on the case.
Massachusetts lawmakers, all Democrats, responded to the report of a draft opinion.
Read: How Would The Supreme Court Overturning Roe V. Wade Affect Massachusetts?
Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeted, "The extremist Supreme Court wants to impose its far-right, unpopular views on the entire country."
Sen. Ed Markey said the court must be expanded: "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."
"This is devastating," Rep. Katherine Clark tweeted. "Overturning Roe would create a second class of citizens & make the dystopian horrors of forced pregnancy a reality, especially for low-income women. But that is exactly the goal: to take away our rights, agency, and humanity. We will not go quietly."
"The GOP has taken a hard right turn. They want to burn books, incite insurrections & push a radical plan to outlaw abortion through the Supreme Court—overturning decades of legal precedent," Rep. Jim McGovern said in a tweet Tuesday. "We must stay focused, stay organized & use every tool at our disposal to fight back."
Rep. Ayanna Pressley said, "Abortion care is a fundamental human right and we must legislate like it."
"I think it's an unprecedented leak, because it's an unprecedented decision and it's wrong," Congressman Seth Moulton told WBZ-TV Tuesday. "I'm shocked on the one hand. I mean this is the first time in my lifetime that the Supreme Court has so dramatically rolled back rights, rolled back individual freedoms."
Rep. Lori Trahan told CBS News Boston in an interview that "A woman's body is her own business."
"As a woman, I'm horrified. As a mother of two young girls, terrified. But more than anything I'm pissed off like a lot of other women," Trahan said. "We're going to keep fighting alongside all of those women who support preserving a woman's right to choose and have the freedom to make decisions over her own body."
Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka joined other lawmakers to speak in front of the State House Tuesday. "A woman's right to choose is a woman's right to choose period. No conditions, no if ands, and buts, but it is a right to choose," she said. "I'm proud to say that in order to save lives and preserve the rights of women, girls, those who identify as women and girls, the Massachusetts Senate has taken steps to uphold reproductive rights here in Massachusetts."