‘Five-alarm fire’: leaked abortion memo from Supreme Court has lawmakers, candidates reacting – By Ledyard King, Dylan Wells and Candy Woodall (USA Today) / May 3, 2022
WASHINGTON – Lawmakers and congressional candidates wasted little time Monday reacting to the news of a draft Supreme Court opinion published by Politico suggesting the court is considering a decision that would overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a constitutional right to abortion.
The issue of abortion was already a hot-button issue in key races across the country in advance of November’s mid-term elections.
But the report that the high court was potentially closer to reversing the nearly 50-year-old ruling – and letting states decide what abortion restrictions to enact – sparked outrage from progressives and cheers from conservatives running in state and federal elections nationwide.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., issued a joint statement saying “the Supreme Court is poised to inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the past fifty years – not just on women but on all Americans,” if the report is acurate.
