'Fight like hell;' California, Bay Area Democratic leaders condemn reported SCOTUS Roe v. Wade opinion
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF/AP) -- Bay Area and California Democratic leaders vowed to defend reproductive rights Tuesday following word the U.S. Supreme Court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that stopped state governments from banning abortion.
Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of a draft opinion from the court reported Monday evening by Politico that revealed a majority of the nine justices want to overturn the ruling, vowing an investigation into the leak. The opinion appeared to have been written in February; high court opinions can change and get rewritten many times before they are final.
Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday called the opinion an attack on women's rights won a half-century ago and will put countless women's lives in danger.
"This is not an isolated incident, and it is not the end. We have a Supreme Court that does not value the rights of women, and a political minority that will stop at nothing to take those rights away. This won't stop with choice and the right to privacy," said Newsom in a prepared statement.
"I'm furious that my own daughters and sons could grow up in an America that is less free than the one they were born into," he added. "We have to wake up. We have to fight like hell. We will not be silenced."
Newsom and the state's top legislative leaders have committed to putting an amendment on the ballot this November that would "enshrine the right to choose" in California.
Newsom's office said their goal is to put the amendment on the ballot this November. Lawmakers will have to act quickly to make that happen. They have to vote on it before the end of June to give state officials enough time to print the ballots.
It takes a two-thirds vote to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. But that shouldn't be a problem in California. Democrats control so many seats they could muster the necessary votes without relying on Republicans.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday in a joint statement with Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer that the Republican-appointed justices' reported decision "would go down as an abomination" and that those senators who supported Sen. Mitch McConnell and voted for justices appointed by former President Donald Trump will now have to explain themselves to the American people.
"Several of these conservative Justices, who are in no way accountable to the American people, have lied to the U.S. Senate, ripped up the Constitution and defiled both precedent and the Supreme Court's reputation – all at the expense of tens of millions of women who could soon be stripped of their bodily autonomy and the constitutional rights they've relied on for half a century," Pelosi said in the prepared statement.
Rep. Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo) said Tuesday there was a lack of discussion about the responsibility of the impregnator, saying he should be subject to a DNA test and post a $300,000 bond for the child.
"The same people who don't want mask mandates imposed on their bodies are ready to take control of our uteruses," said Speier, adding that her own abortion saved her life.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) called the draft opinion "shocking" which would overturn 50 years of precedent.
"If accurate, this decision will deal a shattering blow to millions, especially low-income people and women of color," said Lee in a prepared statement. "Every individual should have the right to make their own personal health care decisions that impact their lives, health and futures. It is chilling to think this Court is unwilling to protect those decades-old constitutional rights."
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Napa) also referred to the settled law and the testimony of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh during their Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
"Both Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh said in their confirmation hearings that Roe was precedent and has been reaffirmed multiple times. Justice Kavanaugh said that precedent 'is not just a judicial policy…it is constitutionally dictated to pay attention and pay heed to rules of precedent,'" said Thompson. "If Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh are part of this majority decision, they both would be doing a complete 180-degree turn from their confirmation hearings where they stated they believed in precedent and the rule of law under oath."
© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
