Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said in a recent interview that a national abortion ban is possible if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
McConnell shared the remark with USA Today in an article published on Friday.
“If the leaked opinion became the final opinion, legislative bodies – not only at the state level but at the federal level – certainly could legislate in that area,” McConnell said.
“And if this were the final decision, that was the point that it should be resolved one way or another in the legislative process. So yeah, it’s possible,” he added.
During the interview, McConnell also made the Republican Party’s view on abortion clear.
“With regard to the abortion issue, I think it’s pretty clear where Senate Republicans stand,” he said. “And if and when the court makes a final decision, I expect everybody will be more definitive. But I don’t think it’s much secret where senator Republicans stand on that issue.”
The minority leader’s comments followed a leak of an early draft of a Supreme Court majority opinion revealed on Monday.
McConnell was quick to release a statement following the leak to condemn the action, blaming the move on “the radical left.”
“Last night’s stunning breach was an attack on the independence of the Supreme Court,” McConnell tweeted on Tuesday alongside a statement. “By every indication, this was yet another escalation in the radical left’s ongoing campaign to bully and intimidate federal judges and substitute mob rule for the rule of law.’
Last night’s stunning breach was an attack on the independence of the Supreme Court. By every indication, this was yet another escalation in the radical left’s ongoing campaign to bully and intimidate federal judges and substitute mob rule for the rule of law. pic.twitter.com/wvigWvPqm7
— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) May 3, 2022
Democrats were quick to oppose the content of the draft instead of speaking against the source of the Supreme Court leak. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) released a statement following the leaked draft to attack Alito’s reported words.
“This monstrous draft decision is a sweeping and severe restriction of Americans’ rights. With it, Trump, McConnell and Republicans in Congress have assaulted privacy, precedent and the Constitution,” Pelosi wrote.
“Make no mistake: by striking down Roe v. Wade, the Court would pave the way for Republicans to obliterate even more of our freedoms. As drafted, Justice Alito’s argument — that women are not entitled to basic human rights today because they have been denied those rights for generations — is alarming and extremist. This draft ruling offers a dangerous blueprint for future assaults on some of our most cherished rights, which are rooted in the long-held constitutional right to privacy,” she added.
Politico first published the leak on Monday evening.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the document, labeled as the “Opinion of the Court.” “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
The leaked draft also shows that Alito called Roe wrong from the start.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division,” Alito presented in the opinion draft.