South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Sunday that Roe v. Wade created a constitutional right “that doesn’t exist” when it affirmed the nationwide legalization of abortion.
Graham shared the remarks during an interview on “Fox News Sunday” with Bret Baier.
“Roe v. Wade created a constitutional right that doesn’t exist in the written Constitution,” he said. “It’s created division from the first day it was decided until now.”
The senator also noted that each state would take a different approach if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
“Different states will take different approaches, so the abortion debate will not go away in the country, it will be decided by the people, not a handful of judges,” he explained.
Graham added that Congress would also have a new role if abortion laws are turned over to individual states.
“Congress will continue to debate this issue, they will finally have control over this,” he said. “If you don’t like the outcome of the abortion debate, now you can kick people out of office who actually vote.”
The South Carolina Republican argued that judges have determined when life begins and ends, but overturning the decision would allow elected officials to be more involved.
“Before you were shut out. You had no avenue. Five judges, six judges, seven judges determined when life begins and how it ends, and think that was wrong from the start. Now finally elected officials have a say about life and the conditions of abortion. I think that’s the way it should be,” McConnell told Baier.
The leak of an early draft of a Supreme Court majority opinion that indicated Roe v. Wade would likely be struck down was first published by Politico 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.