Recap: GOP plans abortion strategy after Roe v. Wade leak
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A leaked draft opinion published seemingly showed SCOTUS will overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling.
Overturning the 1973 landmark ruling would strip women of the constitutional right to an abortion.
President Joe Biden in response urged voters to elect pro-choice lawmakers in the upcoming midterms.
A leaked draft opinion published on Monday night by Politico seemingly showed that the Supreme Court is set to overturn the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that granted women the constitutional right to an abortion.
The news prompted outrage among many Democratic lawmakers — who want to codify Roe v. Wade into law — and sparked protests across the country.
The GOP told lawmakers to portray themselves as 'the compassionate, consensus-builder' on abortion policy after SCOTUS leak, Axios reports
A leaked GOP memo obtained by Axios told Republican lawmakers to portray themselves as the "compassionate consensus-builder" on abortion policy after the leak.
The memo by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which is the campaign arm of the Senate GOP, said: "Be the compassionate, consensus-builder on abortion policy ... While people have many different views on abortion policy, Americans are compassionate people who want to welcome every new baby into the world."
It also Republicans should "expose the Democrats for the extreme views they hold," claiming that "Joe Biden and the Democrats have extreme and radical views on abortion that are outside of the mainstream of most Americans," Axios reported.
Phone location data from people who visited abortion clinics, including Planned Parenthood, is legally on sale for $160, Vice reports
Vice found that location data from Planned Parenthood branches can be legally sold.
Vice paid a broker $160 for a dataset that included a week's worth of phone location data for 600 Planned Parenthoods in the US, including some that provide abortions.
Data from such brokers is aggregated, which means individuals are not singled out, but it is possible to de-anonymize the data and identify people from the datasets.
Politico told its employees to watch out for strangers trying to enter their office after it published the leaked SCOTUS draft, The Daily Beast reports
Politico told employees to watch out for strangers trying to enter their office after they published the leaked draft opinion, The Daily Beast reported.
Politico's Chief Talent Officer Traci Schweikert said new security measures would be put in place after the report.
The Daily Beast did not report the specifics of any new measures, but reported that Schweikert told staff to be aware of potential threats.
"Be aware of anyone accessing our elevators with you and the possibility of 'tailgating' to your floor," Schweikert said.
The email also urged employees to delete private information from their social media accounts, The Daily Beast reported.
Women on TikTok say hookup culture will be 'decimated' if Roe V. Wade is overturned
Some women say they will deny casual sex if they do not have abortion rights after news broke that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark Roe V. Wade case.
"In case you're a man who doesn't care about roe v wade just know that if abortion gets banned hookup culture will be absolutely decimated," TikTok user @moneymollusk wrote in a video, which has received more than 1.2 million views in a single day.
"What women would have mediocre sex with a drunk rando if he could potentially father their child," she continued, noting that the video is directed at "all the pro-life men who love Plan B."
Reasoning behind leaked draft decision could lead to anti-feminist laws nationwide, says Rep. Jamie Raskin
Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin said this week that if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned based on Justice Samuel Alito's reasoning, it might be an invitation for other laws to be overturned.
Raskin was discussing the bombshell leak of the Supreme Court's draft majority opinion on Roe v. Wade during an interview with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on Monday.
Overturning Roe v. Wade is 'not what a majority of Americans want,' says Elizabeth Warren
A video taken on Tuesday showed Sen. Elizabeth Warren fuming over a leaked Supreme Court opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito which appeared to show that the Supreme Court's conservative judges have lined up to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The 1973 Supreme Court decision codified the right to an abortion into law, but the memo leaked by Politico on Monday showed that the court's five conservative judges all shared their opposition to the law in February.
A furious Warren ripped into the lawmakers who approved the conservative judges while speaking with reporters on Tuesday, appearing shaken with anger as an aide helped escort her away from the courthouse.
As Roe v. Wade faces being overturned, communities of color continue to fight for their rights
Abortion advocates say that communities of color will bear the brunt of the overturning of the decades-long precedence of Roe v. Wade.
"We know this imminent ruling will have a dramatic impact on all people seeking to end a pregnancy and its consequences will reverberate nationwide," Lupe M. Rodríguez, the executive director at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, wrote in a statement to Insider.
Supreme Court's leaked decision gives Democrats a fresh shot at the culture wars
Republicans planned to ride to electoral victory this fall on a wave of parental fears and dissatisfaction with schools, teachers' unions, and COVID restrictions.
The Supreme Court was poised over the summer to weigh in on one of the most polarizing issues of all, overturning abortion rights. But now that an authentic draft of the conservative majority's opinion has been leaked ahead of schedule, it has accelerated concerns, and a decision to gut Roe v. Wade could supersede all other culture wars when Americans go to the polls in November.
Democrats are counting on it.
Schumer blasts McConnell for not discussing Supreme Court draft opinion
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday ripped into Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell after the top Republican avoiding talking about his longtime push to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that granted women the constitutional right to an abortion nearly 50 years ago.
McConnell earlier on Tuesday criticized the release of a draft opinion from the Supreme Court — an unprecedented leak related to a major abortion rights case that's still pending. The top Republican focused his outrage on the nature of the leak, and avoided speaking on the substance of the draft opinion, which would overturn Roe.
"It is utterly amazing that Mitch McConnell did not want to say he supports repealing Roe v. Wade," Schumer said during a press conference. "All he did was talk about the leaks."
Republican senators won't say if they support rape and incest exceptions to abortion bans
Every Republican president since Ronald Reagan has stood behind anti-abortion views with exceptions in the cases of rape, incest, and protecting the life of the pregnant person.
But some Senate Republicans refused to tell Insider whether they support such exceptions in the wake of the publication of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling protecting abortion rights.
Conservative media talking heads play defense on overturning Roe v. Wade
The conservative legal movement appears to be on the cusp of achieving a nearly 50-year dream of overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision protecting abortion.
But so far, conservative media appearances show the party and its most loyal pundits holding off on taking a victory lap.
Democrats want to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land
Democrats have promised to vote on a bill that would protect abortion rights after a leaked draft showed the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.
"Every American is going to see which side every senator stands on," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday on the steps of the US Capitol, adding that a vote would happen "soon" on the Women's Health Protection Act.
Justice Samuel Alito quoted Ruth Bader Ginsburg in leaked draft opinion
Associate Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito cited the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in his leaked draft opinion that would reverse landmark abortion rights.
Ginsburg was a famously strong defender of women's rights during her 27-year tenure on the court before her death in 2020.
"Roe...halted a political process that was moving in a reform direction and thereby, I believed, prolonged divisiveness and deferred stable settlement of the issue," Alito quoted Ginsburg on the third page of his 98-page opinion.
Scrapping of Roe v. Wade would hurt women's personal and financial security
Over the last few years, women and trans Americans have seen their economic, physical, and personal security imperiled, and policy hasn't stepped up to address those challenges.
A Supreme Court decision striking down Roe v. Wade would be yet another big setback, Insider's Juliana Kaplan and Joseph Zeballos-Roig write.
The draft leak was Chief Justice John Roberts' worst 'nightmare'
Chief Justice John Roberts has a pattern of warning Supreme Court clerks and staff to maintain confidentiality in court dealings. Roberts would highlight to the clerks that leaking information could mean blows to their careers, clerks told Insider.
Legal experts called the breach — which is almost unprecedented — "highly disturbing."
Roberts has instructed the court marshal to start an investigation into the leak. He called it a "betrayal of the confidences of the court."
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signs Texas-style bill that bans abortions around the six-week pregnancy mark
—Governor Kevin Stitt (@GovStitt) May 3, 2022
Stitt signed SB 1503 — a bill that mirrors the highly restrictive Texas abortion ban — on Tuesday saying he wants Oklahoma "to be the most pro-life state in the country."
The "Oklahoma Heartbeat Act" would make it illegal for any pregnant individual to obtain an abortion passed the point when a heartbeat can be detected in the fetus. This typically occurs around the sixth week of pregnancy — though most people are unaware that they are pregnant at this point.
The bill leaves out exceptions including rape or incest and only allows the procedure if the impregnated person's life is at risk.
It also enables private citizens to sue others who induce or provide an abortion for up to $10,000, just like the Texas law. The bill immediately goes into effect since Stitt signed.
Oklahoma lawmakers passed another abortion law in April forbidding medical professionals from performing the procedure except in medical emergencies — punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $100,000 in fines. This bill would go into effect in the summer unless courts stop it.
Some companies are covering travel costs for employees seeking abortion in different states
Some US companies are taking steps in response to increasing restrictions on abortion access.
Amazon, Apple, and Citi, for example, are covering travel costs for employees seeking abortion in different states.
At least half of US states are "certain or likely" to ban abortion if the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling is struck down, according to analysis by the Guttmacher Institute.
AOC calls Sen. Kyrsten Sinema 'an obstructionist' and rips on the Arizona lawmaker
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Sen. Kyrsten Sinema "an obstructionist" and slammed the Arizona lawmaker for refusing to support changes to the Senate filibuster to codify abortion protections.
"We could protect Roe tomorrow, but Sinema refuses to act on the filibuster. Until that changes she can take a seat talking about 'women's access to health care,'" Ocasio-Cortez said, calling for Sinema to be primaried.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said her "confidence" in SCOTUS has been rocked
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said her "confidence" in the Supreme Court has been rocked after the leaked draft opinion suggesting Roe v. Wade would be overturned.
"Roe is still the law of the land. We don't know the direction that this decision may ultimately take, but if it goes in the direction that this leaked copy has indicated I will just tell you that it rocks my confidence in the court right now," she told reporters.
Murkowski, who supports abortion rights, voted to approve Conservatives Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
Kamala Harris says the 'rights of all Americans are at risk' after leaked draft opinion
Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement that "the rights of all Americans are at risk" as the Supreme Court seems set to overturn Roe v. Wade.
"If the right to privacy is weakened, every person could face a future in which the government can potentially interfere in the personal decisions you make about your life," Harris said.
She added: "Republican legislators in states across the country are weaponizing the use of the law against women."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren rips Republicans for 'plotting' to get a conservative Supreme Court
Sen. Elizabeth Warren slammed Republicans for "plotting" to get a conservative Supreme Court and overturn Roe v. Wade.
"The Republicans have been working toward this day for decades," Warren told reporters Tuesday. "They have been out there plotting, carefully cultivating these Supreme Court justices so they could have a majority on the bench who would accomplish something that the majority of Americans do not want."
She said she's "angry and upset and determined," after the leaked draft opinion appearing to signal the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling will be overturned.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema stands by her support of the Senate filibuster
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is standing by her support of the Senate filibuster, busting Democrats' hopes of codifying Roe v. Wade into law.
"Protections in the Senate safeguarding against the erosion of women's access to health care have been used half-a-dozen times in the past ten years, and are more important now than ever," she said in a Tuesday statement.
The filibuster requires most legislation to get a three-fifths majority to head to debate, meaning Democrats can't pass many policy items in an evenly divided Senate.
Rep. Cori Bush said she's 'broken up' by the Roe v. Wade draft opinion
Democratic Rep. Cori Bush — who previously revealed she got an abortion after being raped as a teen — said she was "broken up" after the leaked draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court would overturn the constitutional right to abortion.
"I'm pretty broken up," the 45-year-old Missouri congresswoman told The New York Times in an interview on Tuesday.
She added: "Whether you have an abortion, or whether you have the child, no one is on that table with you. No one is on that bed with you."
Supreme Court confirms authenticity of leaked draft opinion gutting abortion rights
The Supreme Court confirmed the authenticity of a leaked draft opinion that would overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling guaranteeing abortion rights.
"Although the document described in yesterday's reports is authentic, it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case," the court said in a statement.
Chief Justice John Roberts announced the court will investigate to find out who leaked the document.
Susan Collins slams Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh after leaked draft opinion
Republican Sen. Susan Collins slammed conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh in the wake of the leaked draft opinion that would overturn the right to an abortion.
"If this leaked draft opinion is the final decision and this reporting is accurate, it would be completely inconsistent with what Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh said in their hearings and in our meetings in my office," Collins said in a statement.
Collins — who supports abortion rights — has previously defended her decision to vote for Gorsuch and Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmations.
Majority Leader Schumer says the Senate will vote on an abortion rights bill
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promised to hold a vote that would codify federal abortion rights into law.
"A vote on this legislation is not an abstract exercise. This is as urgent and real as it gets," Schumer said during a speech on the Senate floor. "We will vote to protect a woman's right to choose and every American is going to see on which side every American stands."
Biden says it's up to 'voters to elect pro-choice officials' after leaked SCOTUS draft opinion
President Joe Biden urged voters to elect pro-choice lawmakers in the wake of a leaked draft opinion seemingly suggesting that the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade.
Biden in a Tuesday statement said at a federal level, the country needs "more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House" so he can pass legislation to codify Roe v. Wade.
"If the Court does overturn Roe, it will fall on our nation's elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman's right to choose," the president added. "And it will fall on voters to elect pro-choice officials this November."
McConnell lashes out at Democrats over reactions to Roe v. Wade leak
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell slammed Democrats over their reactions to the leaked draft opinion showing the Supreme Court is set to undo abortion rights.
"By every indication, this was yet another escalation in the radical left's ongoing campaign to bully and intimidate federal judges and substitute mob rule for the rule of law," McConnell said in a statement.
He also called the leak "an attack on the independence of the Supreme Court."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes to build a statewide constitutional 'firewall' around abortion rights
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday proposed building a statewide constitutional "firewall" around abortion rights.
"California will build a firewall around this right in our state constitution," Newsom said in a joint statement with California's State Senate President Toni Atkins and State Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon.
The statement said California lawmakers will propose a constitutional amendment to "enshrine the right to choose."
Democrats plan to make abortion rights a huge midterm issue
Democrats plan to make abortion a main talking point ahead of the fall midterm elections if the Supreme Court overturns existing protections for women's reproductive rights.
If the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling is overturned, pro-choice groups say outrage could help inspire people to vote.
"The reality is abortion is absolutely going to be on the ballot in 2022, no ifs, ands, or buts about it," Kristin Ford, vice president of communications at NARAL Pro-Choice America, told Insider in March.
Democrats are worried that same-sex marriage and civil rights could be targeted next after SCOTUS leak
Democratic lawmakers are concerned that same-sex marriage and civil rights could be undone next in the wake of a leaked draft opinion showing the Supreme Court is set to overturn abortion rights.
The Supreme Court "isn't just coming for abortion - they're coming for the right to privacy Roe rests on, which includes gay marriage + civil rights," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Monday.
Legal scholar Laurence Tribe wrote on Twitter that next steps may include a "nationwide abortion ban, followed by a push to roll back rights to contraception, same-sex marriage, sexual privacy, and the full array of textually unenumerated rights long taken for granted."
SCOTUS leaked draft opinion is unprecedented, but details about Court deliberations have been made public before
The leaked draft opinion seemingly showing that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade is certainly unprecedented.
An entire draft opinion has never been leaked like this before.
But details about justices' deliberations have been made public before — for example a 1972 memo about Roe that was leaked to the Washington Post before it became public.
Biden has been reluctant to say the word 'abortion' throughout his term
President Joe Biden has been reluctant to publicly say the word "abortion" since he took office in January 2021.
According to CNN, he has never said the word "abortion" out loud and used it a few times in some written statements.
During his presidential campaign, Biden promised to codify the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade.
Democrats want to 'codify Roe,' but it's unlikely to succeed
In the wake of the leaked draft Supreme Court opinion, Democrats have quickly organized to codify Roe v. Wade and make it a law.
One thing stopping Democrats' efforts, however, is the Senate filibuster.
Democrats are currently focusing on the Women's Health Protection Act as a way to protect women's' federal right to abortion.
A constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights is nearly impossible to get through
Amending the Constitution is extremely difficult and rare. An amendment protecting abortion rights is nearly impossible.
Abortion rights amendments have previously been proposed by both supporters and opponents.
In the 233-year-long lifespan of the Constitution, it has only been amended 27 times — most recently in 1992 — and would require massive support in Congress and among states.
Legal experts are shocked the drafted decision leaked
Legal experts have expressed shock at the fact that a draft opinion from the Supreme Court was leaked to Politico.
"The fact that it leaked is, to me, the most surprising thing," Harvard Law School professor I. Glenn Cohen told Insider.
Mark Kende, a law professor at Drake University, told Insider that it's "highly disturbing that the opinion was improperly leaked in an unprecedented way, presumably by someone at the Court."
Top Democrats slam SCOTUS justices for 'one of the worst' decisions in history
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed the potential Supreme Court ruling as "one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history."
Their remarks came in response to a leaked draft opinion published by Politico that appears to show the Supreme Court is set to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case.
"If the report is accurate, the Supreme Court is poised to inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the past fifty years – not just on women but on all Americans," Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement.
Protesters in support of Roe v. Wade gathered outside Supreme Court
Hundreds of protestors gathered outside the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, late on Monday night after Politico published a leaked draft opinion suggesting that Roe v. Wade was poised to be overturned.
"I got down here early, right, cause I got home from a long day kicked off shoes my shoes, opened Twitter, saw that Roe v. Wade was trending to be overturned, put my shoes back on, and came right back from east of the river," Rev. Wendy Hamilton, a Democratic congressional candidate from DC, told Insider.
Leaked draft opinion shows SCOTUS set to overturn Roe v. Wade
A leaked draft opinion obtained by Politico appears to show that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that granted women the constitutional right to an abortion.
Politico late Monday published the 98-page initial draft majority opinion, purportedly authored by Justice Samuel Alito who said Roe was "egregiously wrong from the start."
"We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled," the draft opinion says, labeled as the "Opinion of the Court," according to the report.
The decision — if finalized — would mark a momentous shift in constitutional rights. Over a dozen GOP states have laws that would immediately restrict abortion access if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
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