Former Secretary of State and first lady Hillary Clinton said if the drafted Supreme Court opinion on the landmark Roe v. Wade decision overturns the ruling, “you have no idea who they will come for next.”
During an appearance on “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell,” Clinton told O’Donnell that Justice Samuel Alito’s drafted opinion on Roe v. Wade is “dark” and “incredibly dangerous,” saying she hopes people are fully aware of what Americans are up against.
“This opinion is dark. It is incredibly dangerous. And it is not just about a woman's right to choose, it is about much more than that,” Clinton told O’Donnell in the interview. “And I hope people now are fully aware of what we're up against, because the only answer is at the ballot box, to elect people who will stand up for every American's rights.”
Clinton also said that citizens shouldn’t ignore this possible overturn of the landmark decision, adding the nation’s highest court might start targeting other landmark rulings to overturn if “you allow this kind of extreme power to take hold.”
“And any American who says, ‘Look, I'm not a woman, this doesn't affect me. I'm not Black, that doesn't affect me. I'm not gay, that doesn't affect me,' ... once you allow this kind of extreme power to take hold, you have no idea who they will come for next," Clinton said.
Clinton’s response comes as a political shockwave spread across the country on Monday following the leak of the drafted opinion piece written by Justice Alito, which signaled that the Supreme Court could overturn of the landmark 1973 decision, which established the constitutional right to an abortion.
Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement on Tuesday that the leaked draft opinion was authentic, but noted it did not represent the final views of the justices.
Prominent figures on the left such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have urged Congress to pass an abortion protection legislation to protect Roe v. Wade.
In response to the leaked drafted opinion, students at more than 20 universities across the country are staging walkouts in protest of the issue.
