Sen. Schumer condemns leaked SCOTUS draft opinion overturning Roe v Wade

Following the leak of a draft opinion stating that the Supreme Court has ruled to overturn Roe v Wade, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer condemned the opinion, calling it a "dark and disturbing morning for America."

Speaking on the Senate floor, Schumer said, "Last night, a report disclosed that a conservative majority of the United States Supreme Court is ready to overturn Roe v Wade, and uproot decades of precedent affirming a woman's right to an abortion. If this report is accurate, the Supreme Court is poised to inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the past 50 years, not just on women, but on all Americans."

"Under this decision, our children will have less rights than their parents," he said.

Schumer said that the conservative Justices’ vote to overturn Roe v Wade "will go down as an abomination. One of the worst, most damaging decisions in modern history."

"Several of these conservative Justices, who are in no way accountable to the American people, have lied to the US 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 over half a century," said Schumer.

"The party of Lincoln and Eisenhower has now completely devolved into the party of Trump," he continued.

Schumer said the blame for the Supreme Court’s vote falls on Republican lawmakers "who spent years pushing extremists judges, spent years confirming three far-right justices to the Supreme Court, but who claimed somehow this day would never come."

"But this day has come and we will fight it all the way," he added.

Following the leak of the draft opinion, Schumer said it’s his intention to hold a vote to codify the right to an abortion into law.

"This is as urgent and real as it gets. We will vote to protect a woman's right to choose and every American is going to see which side every senator stands."

"Every Republican senator who's supported Senator McConnell, and voted for Trump justices pretending that this day would never come, will now have to explain themselves to the American people," said Schumer.

President Biden condemned the draft of the Supreme Court's ruling on Tuesday morning, urging Americans to vote in more pro-choice lawmakers come this year's midterm elections.

"…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. And it will fall on voters to elect pro-choice officials this November," he wrote.

"At the federal level, we will need more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law."