Hillary Clinton spoke out after a draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court was allegedly leaked to the prominent Politico on Monday, in which the landmark 1973 decision on federally legalized abortion ''Roe v. Wade'' in the U.S. is set to be overturned.
"This decision is a direct assault on the dignity, rights, & lives of women, not to mention decades of settled law," Hillary Clinton has since tweeted in frustration.
"Not surprising. But still outrageous," Clinton added: "This decision is a direct assault on the dignity, rights, & lives of women, not to mention decades of settled law."
"It will kill and subjugate women even as a vast majority of Americans think abortion should be legal," she added. "What an utter disgrace."
Clinton's post was in response to a "majority draft opinion" of a Supreme Court decision, which Politico says it obtained on Monday.
The 98-page draft opinion leaked to the press in what appears to be a major breach of confidentiality, states that "Roe was egregiously wrong from the start," and that "we [the Supreme Court majority] hold that Roe and Casey [another ruling on the right to abortion from 1992 which upheld the previous court decision] must be overruled."
The conservative-leaning Supreme Court decided in December to take up a lawsuit over Mississippi's ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America also released a statement in reaction to the leaked draft opinion on Monday, writing, "if this decision issues, 26 states are poised to move quickly to ban abortion, leaving more than 36 million women of reproductive age — and other people who can become pregnant — without abortion access."
"This leaked opinion is horrifying and unprecedented, and it confirms our worst fears: that the Supreme Court is prepared to end the constitutional right to abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade. While we have seen the writing on the wall for decades, it is no less devastating, and comes just as anti-abortion rights groups unveil their ultimate plan to ban abortion nationwide," the statement sent to PEOPLE continued.
The organisation repeated in its statement, "Abortion is legal. It is still your right."
The potential ruling comes at a time when abortion rights are under assault across the USA. In 2021, a record 106 restrictions on abortions became law in the U.S.
In the past, states that tried to enact anti-abortion laws knew they would be struck down by state and federal courts following the precedent set by Roe v. Wade. But now, with six conservative justices on the Supreme Court — three added during Donald Trump's presidency — legalized abortions may no longer be inalienable right.
