House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Monday that "Republicans have made clear that their goal will be to seek to criminalize abortion nationwide."
Driving the news: "Make no mistake: Once Republicans have dispensed with precedent and privacy in overturning Roe, they will take aim at additional basic human rights," Pelosi wrote in a "Dear Colleague" letter.
- "At this pivotal moment, the stakes for women — and every American — could not be higher," she added.
State of play: Pelosi's comments come one week after a leaked draft ruling revealed that the Supreme Court is prepared to potentially overturn Roe v. Wade.
- Pelosi told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that the Supreme Court "has slapped women in the face" by potentially moving to overturn Roe v. Wade.
- "This is about something so serious and so personal and so disrespectful of women," Pelosi said over the weekend.
- Other Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), on Sunday also criticized the move to potentially overturn federal abortion rights.
What she's saying: "If handed down, this decision by GOP-appointed Justices would mean that, for the first time in our history, America’s daughters will have less freedom than their mothers," Pelosi said.
- "Republican state legislators across the country are already advancing extreme new laws, seeking to arrest doctors for offering reproductive care, ban abortion entirely with no exceptions, and even charge women with murder who exercise their right to choose."
Go deeper: Pelosi: Supreme Court draft ruling "slapped women in the face"
