New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez issued a stark warning to her followers on Twitter following the leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade.
An initial draft majority opinion penned by Justice Samuel Alito obtained by POLITICO, reads, “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he continued. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
The move would make abortion illegal.
Slate reporter Mark Joseph Stern shared a snippet of another draft opinion of Alito’s where he denounces Lawrence v. Texas.
Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down sodomy laws criminalizing same-sex intimacy, and Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized gay marriage, are based at least in part on that same right to privacy.
In the draft opinion, Alito explicitly states that the court.
“We emphasize that our decision concerns the constitutional right to abortion and no other right,” the draft states. “Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.”
However, the Democrat is wary, as are many members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Ocasio-Cortez retweeted Stern, adding, “As we’ve warned, SCOTUS isn’t just coming for abortion – they’re coming for the right to privacy Roe rests on, which includes gay marriage + civil rights,” she tweeted. “Manchin is blocking Congress codifying Roe. House has seemingly forgotten about Clarence Thomas. These 2 points must change.”
Speaking to PBS, Sharon McGowan, legal director at Lambda Legal echoed Ocasio-Cortez’s sentiments.
“Overturning Roe will be most dangerous because of the signal it will send lower courts to disregard all the other precedents that exist,” she said. “It’s starting with abortion. It’s not going to end with abortion,” said Mini Timmaraju, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “So everyone needs to be very vigilant.”
