South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) said Monday evening that if the infamous Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade is overturned, she would “immediately call for a special session to save lives and guarantee that every unborn child has a right to life in South Dakota.”
Noem’s announcement comes as a preliminary decision by Justice Samuel Alito to overturn Roe v. Wade appears to have been leaked from the Supreme Court.
The decision, if legitimate, expressly overturns Roe as well as Planned Parenthood v. Casey with Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — a case many on both sides of the debate saw as the most likely chance of overturning the 1973 case that has led to the deaths of millions of American babies.
Noem’s plans are part of what is likely to be a movement among state Republican leaders to end abortion in their states entirely, no longer having to attempt to thread the needle to be within the confines of Roe and Casey.
“The permissibility of abortion, and the limitations upon it, are to be resolved like most important questions in our democracy: by citizens trying to persuade one another and then voting,” the potential decision reads.
“We hold that Roe v. Wade must be overruled,” it continues. “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely—the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Abortion advocates are lauding the potential leaker, with some calling this person “brave” for taking an “[unprecedented] step of leaking a draft opinion to warn the country what’s coming.”
Others are much more concerned about the future institutional credibility of the nation’s High Court, saying, “It’s impossible to overstate the earthquake this will cause inside the Court, in terms of the destruction of trust among the Justices and staff. This leak is the gravest, most unforgivable sin.”
Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.