After a draft of a majority decision in a Supreme Court case was leaked, revealing that the court will overturn Roe v. Wade, Jim Obergefell says he is concerned that his landmark US Supreme Court case, which legalised homosexual marriage across America, may also be jeopardised.
“It scares the daylights out of me,” he informed CNN.
Also read: Roe v Wade: What is in the leaked SCOTUS opinion draft?
While his initial reaction to the draft opinion was that “this is a dark day for women in our nation,” he swiftly followed that with concern that “marriage equality is next.”
“Many of the rights we enjoy, especially the LGBTQ+ community, are based on unenumerated rights under the 14th Amendment — the right to privacy,” he elucidated. “If the Constitution doesn’t specifically, in writing, outline that right to privacy, then all of those rights that have been affirmed for us that are based on the right to privacy under the 14th Amendment are at risk.”
He told CNN that he believed the shocking revelation would motivate people who were undecided to vote.
Also read: Roe v. Wade: What does the leaked draft mean for the US Supreme Court?
Obergefell also stated in a statement made on Tuesday that the most basic human rights are “under siege.”
“The extreme U.S. Supreme Court should not be overturning decades of established law and denying the most basic human health rights to pregnant people to make their own decisions about their lives and their bodies,” the statement read.
It continued, “The sad part is … five or six people will determine the law of the land and go against the vast majority of Americans who overwhelmingly support a person’s right to make their own health decisions and a couple’s right to be married. This is a sad day, but it’s not over. We have fought the good fight for too long to be denied our rights now.”
Also read: Oklahoma bans abortions after 6 weeks, effective immediately
Earlier today, Senator Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, expressed concern that if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, it might lead to the overturning of other important privacy rulings, such as Obergefell, which legalised same-sex marriage.