Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) asked Chief Justice John Roberts to support Supreme Court precedent as they met briefly before the State of the Union address on Tuesday, according to reports, in an apparent reference to upcoming abortion rights rulings.
Politico’s Burgess Everett said Gillibrand, who was spotted chatting with Roberts before President Joe Biden addressed Congress, didn’t specifically reference Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision protecting abortion rights, or the other decisions that have supported it. But Gillibrand said she was hopeful the justice would catch her meaning.
“Hopefully he understood what I meant,” the senator said. “I just said you have a role to play as the chief justice of the Supreme Court to do your job and to uphold the law and to do what’s right.”
Gillibrand later said that Roberts was the “only hope that women in America have.”
HuffPost has reached out to Gillibrand’s office for clarification on her remarks.
The senator’s reported concern reflects broader fears among Democrats and abortion rights advocates nationwide who worry that the U.S. Supreme Court, which now heavily leans conservative, could soon undermine decades of precedent surrounding Roe v. Wade. The court has made a series of dramatic decisions on abortion rights in recent months, including allowing a controversial Texas abortion law to remain in effect while it makes its way through the court system.
That law has become a flashpoint for abortion rights groups because it bans most abortions after six weeks and makes no exceptions for pregnancies from rape or incest. The law was specifically written to be difficult to challenge in court, effectively deputizing citizens to go after those who violate it, with promises of bounties for successful suits. Other GOP-led states have already unveiled copycat legislation.
In a dissent after the Texas ruling last month, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the law was drafted “specifically to smother the federal right to choose.”
“This case is a disaster for the rule of law and a grave disservice to women in Texas, who have a right to control their own bodies,” Sotomayor added. “I will not stand by silently as a state continues to nullify this constitutional guarantee.”
Roberts has sided with the court’s three liberal members in the past, but the body’s 6-3 makeup now means two of its conservative members would need to break with their colleagues to uphold abortion rights.