In a live interview, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) said that “Republicans finally got what they’ve been advocating for” in light of the Supreme Court’s draft decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade leaking early this week.
“What I’m saying is that, look, Republicans finally got what they’ve been advocating for,” Menendez said during a live interview with Jose Diaz-Balart on Thursday.
“If this is the final decision of the court, then Republicans have been militating for decades to end a woman’s right to choose and the privacy basis under which a woman’s right to choose is determined for her own personal future as it relates to her body and the choices she will have to make. That has been the law for half a century.”
SCOTUS’ draft decision was first leaked to Politico, who reported the news Monday evening, and indicates that Roe vs. Wade would be overturned, therefore making abortion rights decided at the state level.
While New Jerseyans will still have a right to choose due to the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act, 26 states are expected to ban or restrict abortions once the court making their official ruling this summer.
“So, now Republicans, if you listen to them, you would think that all of those who were advocating for this result would be jumping for joy at the decision of the court. Instead, they want to run away from that decision. This is an example of the dog catching the bus. They got what they wanted and now they don’t want women in the nation to know that it is Republicans who are stripping away a woman’s right to choose,” Menendez added.
“And for all of us beyond that, the fact that by undermining 50 years of precedent of a case that was decided, affirmed, and reaffirmed by the Supreme Court, that ultimately if you can change 50 years of precedent, you can change 50 years of precedent on voting rights, civil rights, and any other right you think that we have as a country that has been assured.”
The remarks from New Jersey’s senior senator came less than a day after the Hudson County Democratic Socialists of America hosted an abortion rights rally outside his office at Harborside in Jersey City.
