CNN Legal Analyst Predicts ‘Interstate Travel’ and ‘Same Sex Relationships’ Could Be on Chopping Block After Roe

If Roe v. Wade is overturned, everything from “interstate travel” to same-sex relationships could be some of the next “fundamental rights” on the chopping block, CNN senior legal analyst Laura Coates declared Tuesday.

In a segment discussing the “earthquake” leaked draft of a Supreme Court decision to seemingly overturn the Roe v. Wade decision, Coates blasted the draft and suggested if it turns out to be true, there will be dire legal consequences that extend far beyond women’s rights.  The leak was published by Politico and has stirred up major outrage among Roe v. Wade supporters, while some Republicans have responded by blasting the leaker and calling for an investigation.

“There are a lot of things now on the chopping block,” Coates said in reaction to the draft leak during Tuesday’s edition of CNN Newsroom.

Coates told CNN anchor Jim Sciutto that she was in disbelief that she was discussing abortion and the potential of Roe v. Wade being overturned “in the year of 2022,” noting it is a right that her mother and grandmother both had and now it is being threatened.

Roe v. Wade provides a “fundamental right” “that is within a zone of privacy that the court has said should be hands off for the government,” Coates argued. And if that right can be taken away with “the stroke of a pen,” then plenty of other rights will be on the table, in her view.

The leaked draft will lead to a “slippery slope,” Coates added — should it turn out to be the first step towards the landmark Roe v. Wade decision being actually overturned by the Supreme Court.

“A familiar phrase is the slippery slope in the Supreme Court. That which you do in one area could extend to others,” she said. “Well, fundamental rights include interstate travel, include the idea of same sex marriage, include same sex relationships, just to name a few. Now this is essentially gone. What’s next?”

Watch above, via CNN.