Vice President Harris on Tuesday warned that the rights of all Americans are at risk if the Supreme Court weakens the right to privacy by overturning Roe v. Wade.
A draft opinion leaked Monday night showed the high court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that guaranteed the right to an abortion.
“The rights of all Americans are at risk. 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. This is the time to fight for women and for our country with everything we have,” Harris said in a statement.
At issue before the Supreme Court is a Mississippi law that bans virtually all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The deeply conservative state had urged the justices to use the law as a vehicle to overturn Roe and allow states to set their own limits on the procedure.
“Roe ensures a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion. It also, at its root, protects the fundamental right to privacy. What is clear is that opponents of Roe want to punish women and take away their rights to make decisions about their own bodies. Republican legislators in states across the country are weaponizing the use of the law against women,” the vice president said.
President Biden also argued on Tuesday that other rights relating to Americans’ privacy are in question if Roe is overturned, including same sex marriage and access to birth control.
Politico reported late Monday on a leaked draft majority opinion written by conservative Justice Samuel Alito that concludes that Roe and the Supreme Court’s 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey are not grounded in the Constitution and should be overturned.
A statement from the Supreme Court on Tuesday noted that the draft opinion does not represent the “final position of any member on the issues in the case.” Chief Justice John Roberts directed the marshal of the Supreme Court to launch an investigation into the source of a leaked draft.
