OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
House Speaker Nancy is not taking it well that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
During an interview on MSNBC, Pelosi spoke about the Court ruling last Friday to overturn the landmark case that legalized abortion.
“What is happening here? What is happening here? A woman’s fundamental health decisions are her own to make in consultation with her doctor, her faith, her family. Not some right-wing politicians that Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell packed the court with,” Pelosi angrily began.
“While Republicans seek to punish and control women, Democrats will keep fighting ferociously to enshrine Roe v. Wade into the law of the land. This cruel ruling is outrageous and heart-wrenching. But make no mistake, again, it’s all on the ballot in November. The Supreme Court has ended a constitutional right,” she added.
“This is — 50 years proclaimed a constitutional right. What happened today was historic in many respects. Historic in that it had not granted, recognized that constitutional right, and then reversed it. This is a first. And, again, just before it imposed a constitutional right to allow for concealed weapons. How about those justices coming before the senators and saying that they — they respect that state decisis, the precedent of the court, that they respected the right of privacy in the Constitution of the United States? Did you hear that? Were they not telling the truth then?” she added.
“Again — just getting to the gun issue, because, really, in preparation for this morning, I was really in an exalted state about what happened in the United States Senate yesterday. Counterpoint to the dangerous decision of this Trumpian Supreme Court that they made yesterday, but a way to take us to, as the bill is called ‘community safety,’ the bipartisan Safer Communities Act,” she said.
WATCH:
Just before the official decision from the Supreme Court, Pelosi gave a bizarre and borderline incoherent response when asked about the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned.
During an interview on CBS, host Margaret Brennan asked Pelosi why former President Barack Obama did not codify Roe v. Wade while he was in office.
Brennan hadn’t even finished asking her question before Pelosi started mumbling over her.
Below is a transcript of the exchange:
Pelosi: “I had to fight against some of the people who did not want to pass the Affordable Care Act because they were concerned that it might enable more freedom of choice. It really didn’t go down that path. Right now, we do have a pro-choice Democratic Congress, and we passed the law months ago, in last, I think, September.”
BRENNAN: “You did in the House, yes.”
Pelosi: “It’s been a while. It’s a number of votes. The — but the fact also is — “
BRENNAN: “But the votes aren’t there in the Senate.”
Pelosi: “Well, the Senate is — you’ll have to talk to the Senate about the Senate. But I do think that it puts an urgency on what’s happening in the election. Two more — one or two more senators could sweep back the filibuster rule for this purpose, and then women would have a right to choose. This is about something so serious and so personal and so disrespectful of women. Here we are on Mother’s Day, a week where the court has slapped women in the face in terms of the disrespect for their judgments about the size and timing of their families. So, the fact is, let’s keep our eye on the ball. The ball is in the court of those justices, one of whom at least said over and over again that precedent — that precedence has been established again and again on Roe v. Wade and that was — so, this decision is about being anti-precedent and anti-privacy, and it has serious ramifications as we go — as we go down this path. And it has to be softened. I don’t think there’s a good outcome, but there’s a better outcome as far as this is concerned.”
Pelosi: “And, again, let’s just be prayerful about this. This is — this is about respect for privacy. What’s next? What’s next? Marriage equality? What’s next, contraception? What is next?”
WATCH: