House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a joint statement late Monday reacting to news that the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade, according to an unprecedented leak of the first draft of the majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
“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,” the Democratic leaders wrote.
“The Republican-appointed Justices’ reported votes to overturn Roe v. Wade would go down as an abomination, one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history,” they continue.
“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.
“The party of Lincoln and Eisenhower has now completely devolved into the party of Trump,” Schumer and Pelosi add. “Every Republican Senator who 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.”
Democratic governors were equally “horrified” by the news.
"I am horrified by the apparent draft Supreme Court opinion leaked this evening that would overturn the right to abortion guaranteed by Roe v. Wade," Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., said in a statement. "For the sake of women across the country, this should not be the Supreme Court's final opinion when it comes to abortion rights."
She said New York will always welcome those who seek abortions.
I refuse to let my new granddaughter have to fight for the rights that generations have fought for & won, rights that she should be guaranteed.
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) May 3, 2022
For anyone who needs access to care, our state will welcome you with open arms. Abortion will always be safe & accessible in New York.
Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) called it a "dark day in America" and assured New Jerseyans their access to abortion remains the same.
A truly dark day in America with the news reports that the Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) May 3, 2022
This year, I signed the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act – codifying a woman's right to choose into state law. New Jersey will not go backwards on reproductive rights.
I want to assure every New Jerseyan that today’s news about the Supreme Court does not change access to abortion in our state.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) May 3, 2022
Access to reproductive health care remains available to anyone who needs it in New Jersey.
California responded by looking to enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution.
NEW: We are proposing an amendment to enshrine the right to choose in the California constitution.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 3, 2022
We can’t trust SCOTUS to protect the right to abortion, so we’ll do it ourselves.
Women will remain protected here. https://t.co/WTUpfymLS0
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said the state "remains a refuge."
In light of the reported decision of the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, CO remains a state where freedom is respected and where any person has the ability to live, work, thrive, and raise a family on their own terms. pic.twitter.com/kqz75vEJ8J
— Governor Jared Polis (@GovofCO) May 3, 2022