Governor Newsom appears with Planned Parenthood LA, lashes out at Republicans and Supreme Court

Appearing with Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, Governor Gavin Newsom lashed out Wednesday at Republicans and the Supreme Court and vowed to fight what he sees as an attack on abortion-rights.

"This has never happened in our lifetime. they're taking away rights that have been affirmed over and over again and are well established. They are taking them away. Wake up America," Newsom said. 

The governor appeared emotional, even angry, as he talked about the leaked draft decision, first reported on by Politico, that seemed to suggest the Supreme Court is set to overturn the landmark abortion-rights case Roe v. Wade in the next few months. 

"How about all those women and girls raped in states where they don't even make an exception for rape. Talk about an extremist. Rape and incest. That's how extreme the Republican Party is in the United States of America," the governor said. 

Newsom and state legislative leaders are now proposing to enshrine protections for abortion rights into the state constitution. 

RELATED: LA, Calif. Democratic leaders vow to protect abortion rights in wake of leaked SCOTUS draft

"And while it's well established in statutes since 2002, that we are a reproductive freedom state, we are going to enshrine that, codify that, as we should, in the state constitution," he said. 

Irvine Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie Norris has proposed a separate bill in the state to expand California's reproductive health and abortion-care workforce. 

"I'm 46 years old. Roe was 2 years old when I was born and it's a right I have enjoyed all my life. It's a right that my generation of women have come to expect, and the idea that our daughters are going to have less freedom than we do, the idea that the next generation is seeing our rights stripped away, it is terrifying," she said. 

There are some who oppose amending the state constitution. Cathleen Domingo, Executive Director for the California Catholic Conference said more needs to be done to support alternatives to abortion, like providing health, housing and wellness services for pregnant women. 

"Certainly, people in California will be opposed to this measure," Domingo said. "Of course abortion continues to be one of the most contested issues of our day and for the last 50 years. At the same time, the California Catholic Bishops and our church of 12 million Catholics in California are working to strengthen safety nets for women and children and families across the state." 

The California GOP released a statement that said Democrats are using an abortion-rights amendment as a distraction. 

"We have a state where almost everything is going in the wrong direction. They're now kind of latching on to this issue even though if the Supreme Court were to rule in the way that that draft opinion indicates, it would not change anything in California," said Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, a Republican from Granite Bay. 

If the ruling stands, the GOP will succeed in a mission they started decades ago, but they may face intense backlash. 

"How will voters feel? It seems like from the public outcry thus far that all this has done is damage for conservative individuals because it's reigniting voters who were independent," Dr. Jennifer Cryer, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Southern California. We often don't think about the polls. Extremists on both sides have already got their ideologies entrenched and well decided, but for those in the middle, this is something that has been seen as the status quo for some time and it's been really normalized." 

If state lawmakers do move forward with a constitutional amendment as planned, voters would ultimately have to approve it in November's election.