Rep. Hakeem Jeffries Rebukes ‘Radical’ Possibility of ‘Government Mandated Pregnancies’
House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) criticized the leaked Supreme Court majority opinion draft on Saturday, telling MSNBC the decision could amount to “government-mandated pregnancies.”
Jeffries told Symone Sanders during her new show that the draft “appears to have the support of a radical, rightwing majority of the Supreme Court, two of whom I would add, were probably illegitimately appointed to the Supreme Court and subsequently confirmed by the Senate based on Mitch McConnell‘s inconsistent application of his own standard to try to gain partisan political advantage just for this reason.”
“But the stakes are really high,” he continued. “We’re talking about a struggle between liberty and tyranny, a struggle between a woman’s freedom to make her own health care decisions and government-mandated pregnancies even in the case of rape or incest. That is extreme, it’s radical, it’s dangerous and it must be stopped.”
The New York congressman tweeted a similar message early Saturday, warning not to be “surprised” if the court targets Brown v. Board of Education next, the landmark case in which the justices unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
During the interview, Jeffries raised the possibility that the Senate’s bid to codify Roe v. Wade into law on Wednesday could receive “some surprising support.”
“I think everyone will be closely watching to see what [Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)] do,” he said. “They confirmed these justices who are a part of this apparent radical majority to get rid of Roe v. Wade, notwithstanding representations made to the contrary that they didn’t believe that that’s exactly what these justices they voted to confirm, like [Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett] would do.”
Sanders clarified, asking: “You think it is actually possible that Senator Collins of Maine and/or Senator Murkowski of Alaska, vote for the bill, in support of the bill on Wednesday?”
“It is theoretically possible,” Jeffries replied. “I think we have to see them put their money where their mouth has been.”
Collins has already said she intends to vote against the legislation, arguing that the bill is too broad. She and Murkowski previously introduced a narrower abortion rights bill, however, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is not planning to “compromise” and bring that bill up for a vote.
Watch above, via MSNBC
