Furious Elizabeth Warren says Republicans have been plotting abortion rollback for ‘decades’
Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks to protesters outside the US Supreme Court on 3 May, 2022. (Getty/ Anna Moneymaker)
Elizabeth Warren joined protesters outside the US Supreme Court as the country faces the prospect of losing constitutional abortion rights.
Warren arrived at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC on Tuesday (3 May), the day after a draft majority opinion was leaked that showed justices calling for the overturning of Roe v Wade.
The document, labelled as a first draft majority opinion and penned by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, was leaked by Politico on Monday night (2 May).
In the draft, Alito responded to a challenge to Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks, and said that not only should the ban be allowed, but that Roe should be overturned entirely, declaring it “egregiously wrong from the start”.
As soon as the opinion was released, protesters flooded to the Supreme Court and demonstrated through the night, and the next day they were joined by Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren.
Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks to protesters outside the US Supreme Court.
(The Washington Post via Getty/ Oliver Contreras)
In an powerful and moving speech, she said: “I am angry because an extremist Supreme Court thinks they can impose their extremist views on all of the women of this country and they are wrong… We are going to fight back.
“I am angry because of who will pay the price for this. It will not be wealthy women. Wealthy women can get on an airplane, they can fly to another state. They can fly to another country. They can get the protection they need.
“This will fall on the poorest women in our country. This will fall on the young women who have been abused, who are victims of incest. This will fall on those who have been raped. This will fall on mothers who are already struggling to work three jobs to support the children they have.
“I am here because I am angry, and I am here because the United States Congress can change all of this. Angry but committed. Understand this: I have seen the world where abortion is illegal. We’re not going back — not now, not ever.”
I am angry because an extremist Supreme Court thinks they can impose their extremist views on all of the women of this country and they are wrong.
I have seen the world where abortion is illegal. We’re not going back—not now, not ever. pic.twitter.com/5lE8rCQz5U
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) May 3, 2022
As she was leaving the Supreme Court, Warren briefly spoke to journalists, insisting that Congress must codify Roe v Wade.
A visibly shaken and angry Senator Elizabeth Warren just spoke in-front of #SCOTUS. @TheNationalNews pic.twitter.com/KzQ2Z0Lg3b— Willy Lowry (@willy_lowry) May 3, 2022
She said: “I am angry. Angry and upset and determined.
“The United States Congress can keep Roe v Wade the law of the land. They just need to do it.”
When a journalist from The National remarked that they had never seen Senator Warren so incensed, she said: “This is what the Republicans have been working towards for decades.
“They have been out there plotting, carefully cultivating these Supreme Court justices so they could have a majority on the bench who would accomplish something that the majority of Americans do not want… People across this country, red states and blue states, old people and young people, want Roe v Wade maintained as the law of the land.”
As an anti-abortion protesters shouted across her, Warren added: “We’ve heard enough from the extremists, and we’re tired of it!”
Many Democrats and activists have spoken out in favour of codifying Roe v Wade in law, however it would likely take ending the filibuster to do so.
