Sen. Klobuchar slams leaked Supreme Court opinion draft, says Congress should ‘codify’ Roe v. Wade
Klobuchar lamented the filibuster as a roadblock to passing legislation on abortion rights in the Senate.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is pledging to take the fight for abortion access across America to the legislature in light of the Supreme Court's leaked opinion draft which could upend Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case legalizing abortion nationwide.
Klobuchar doubled down on her affirmation that the right to legal abortions should be protected nationwide during a CBS interview Tuesday, where she claimed justices were inserting their personal opinions into the leaked draft.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, speaks during a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee confirmation hearing for Denis McDonough, U.S. secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) nominee for U.S. President Joe Biden, in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. As Barack Obama's chief of staff, McDonough oversaw the VAs overhaul in response to its 2014 wait-time scandal and previously served as a deputy national security adviser. Photographer: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Addressing a segment of the document which reads that the "decision on abortion access should be put in the hands of the people's representatives," Klobuchar said most women would prefer to leave the decision between their doctor and themselves.
"What can we do in Washington? We can actually put Roe v. Wade into law, codify Roe v. Wade," she said. "We have many, many votes on the Democratic side for that. We do have a few pro-choice Republicans – probably two in the Senate."
Klobuchar used the opportunity to lament the filibuster, listing it as the only roadblock between legislating nationwide abortion access.
"Unless you do something about the filibuster that I have long supported eliminating, we would not have the votes to enshrine the protections of Roe v. Wade into law… To me, we will do all we can to [enact this legislation]," she said.
Klobuchar predicted women will head to the ballot box in droves in November if the Supreme Court decides to overturn the landmark case.
"Basically what the court would be doing is overturning 50 years of precedence, something that has been on the books, that women have relied on, that 75 to 80 percent of the public support and say should not be overturned," she said.
A crowd of people gather outside the Supreme Court, Monday night, May 2, 2022 in Washington following reports of a leaked draft opinion by the court overturning Roe v. Wade. (AP Photo/Anna Johnson) (AP Photo/Anna Johnson)
Klobuchar went on, accusing the justices of "inserting their own judgment" against what has been the "law of the land" and notes Justice Samuel Alito's assertion that the word "abortion" is not in the Constitution as grounds for his decision.
"Birth control is not in the Constitution, and that also uses a similar argument in past cases for a right to privacy," she said, adding, "The term ‘gay marriage’ is not in the Constitution; the court has interpreted the Constitution to protect these rights for Americans."
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The landmark 1973 case transformed the landscape of privacy issues under constitutional jurisdiction and legalized abortion access across all 50 states. If Roe v. Wade is ruled to be unconstitutional, abortion access will be up to state governments.