Jeanne Shaheen warns of ‘revolution’ if Roe v. Wade overturned

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) predicted Monday that there would be a “revolution” if the Supreme Court overturned its landmark Roe v. Wade decision as the justices prepare to hear arguments in a highly anticipated case on the issue.

During a virtual event featuring the Granite State’s House and Senate delegation, Shaheen was asked if she believed the abortion debate had become “muted” since so many Americans do not remember life before Roe was decided in 1973.

“I hope the Supreme Court is listening to the people of the United States because … I think if you want to see a revolution go ahead, outlaw Roe v. Wade and see what the response is of the public, particularly young people,” she said. “Because I think that will not be acceptable to young women or young men.”

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will take up a case concerning a Mississippi law prohibiting abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which was successfully challenged by the state’s only abortion clinic. The Supreme Court is hearing a case about an abortion ban that was in effect pre-viability (roughly 24 hours) for the first time.

Shaheen doubled down on her remark in a separate statement.

“I’ve lived the consequences of the pre-Roe era,” she said. “I had friends in college who were forced to seek dangerous back alley abortions because women across the country were denied access to critical family planning services. We cannot allow Republican lawmakers to turn back the clock on women’s reproductive health and rights, which is precisely what the Mississippi case seeks to do. It is time to sound the alarm.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said there would be a “revolution” if the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision.
AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

“Roe v. Wade isn’t just a decision that impacts women, their health and their financial security — it also impacts generations of families,” Shaheen added.

Shaheen’s office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for further comment. 

During the same event, Shaheen’s Senate colleague Maggie Hassan (D-NH) called the Mississippi law “a direct attack on decades of precedent,” and added that “the Supreme Court should not put government in front of women’s most personal, difficult, and complicated health care decisions.”

Republicans are pushing for Roe v. Wade’s repeal since its inception. Nearly 230 GOP legislators called upon the Supreme Court to overturn it this summer.

A man holds a sign supporting Roe vs. Wade in front of the US Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC on November 30, 2021
On November 30, 2021, a man held a sign in support of Roe v. Wade.
ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images

On Tuesday, a group of Senate Republicans repeated that call, with Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) saying he hoped the high court would “right a very serious wrong.”

“The 1973 decision was wrongly decided,” Thune said of Roe v. Wade. “And as has been pointed out, the decision, if it is overturned, does not eliminate abortion. It simply returns that to the states.” 

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) echoed Thune’s sentiments, pointing out that only seven countries in the world (the US, Canada, China, Netherlands, North Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam) allow abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

“Only seven countries will allow abortion after 20 weeks, and it’s because we now have that window into the womb where you can see the the baby as it forms, and its features, and you know if it’s a girl or if it’s a boy, and you share in that excitement to welcome this new life,” she said. 

Sen. John Thune
John Thune, Sen. John Thune stated that the 1973 major court ruling was wrong.
Alex Brandon/AP

The court could uphold the Mississippi law without explicitly overruling Roe and a 1992 ruling that states cannot impose an “undue burden” on women seeking abortions, an outcome that would satisfy neither side.

The Supreme Court is also seperately taking up disputes over Texas’ highly contested abortion law, which bars the procedure at around six weeks of pregnancy– far earlier than many women know they are pregnant. Although the court was asked by Texas to stop this law’s implementation earlier in the year, it voted against 5-4.

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