“I will not give in until the protections enshrined by Roe versus Wade are enshrined in the law of the United States of America. We are not going back,” said Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), speaking on the Rutgers-Newark campus Monday at a rally in support of abortion rights. And, Menendez said, “They most certainly cannot strip the fundamental rights of half of the American population without a fight.”
Political rhetoric has sharpened in the wake of a leaked majority opinion showing the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the decision that legalized abortion 49 years ago.
Menendez and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) head to Washington, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was expected to have the Senate vote on a bill that would grant federal abortion rights protection nationwide. With a midterm election coming up that initially threatened to reverse Democratic majorities in Congress, the leaked opinion rocked the consensus that Democrats were electorally doomed, political experts say.
