Rep. Omar Calls For Expanding Supreme Court After Roe Draft Leaks

Richfield MN

03 May, 2022

3:28 PM

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MINNEAPOLIS— Rep. Ilhan Omar Tuesday called for expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court after a draft majority opinion leaked to Politico that suggests that the court will overturn Roe v. Wade. "Overturning Roe would put the lives of women across the country at risk," Omar said in a statement. "It would fly in the face of decades of precedent and the overwhelming majority of public opinion. And they will not stop here." "Expand the court," the congresswoman added. Omar also called on Congress to bolish the filibuster and pass the Women's Health Protection Act "to codify Roe v. Wade into law." The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of Alito's draft opinion included in POLTICO's report. If the court strikes down Roe, abortion rights would be left to the states to decide. Right now, 22 states have laws on their books to ban or restrict abortion, and four more appear poised to do so, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion-rights policy group. Abortion would remain legal in Minnesota, even if Roe v. Wade is overturned. However, under Minnesota law, abortions are allowed only for up to 20 weeks. "This is bulls--t," Sen. Tina Smith — a Democrat from Minnesota — tweeted Monday night reacting to the news. Minnesota's other Democratic senator, Amy Klobuchar, tweeted that "Health care decisions should be between a woman and her doctor, not Ted Cruz." Minnesota Democratic reps. Ilhan Omar, Dean Phillips, and Betty McCollum also voiced their support for abortion rights. The state's Republicans in Congress — Tom Emmer and Michelle Fischbach — have not yet reacted publicly. Republican Rep. Jim Hagedorn died in February.