An Illinois Congressman says abortion rights are likely to dominate the conversations on Capitol Hill as Congress returns to Washington D.C. this week.
18th District Congressman Darin LaHood says Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer intends to call for a vote to codify the right of women to have an abortion in the U.S.
The build-up comes one week after a draft opinion that would overturn Roe vs. Wade was leaked bringing the fight over abortion rights back to center stage.
LaHood says he thinks abortion overall will dominate the debate this week. He says many in Congress are concerned about the leak and are determined to get to the bottom of how the sensitive information was able to be made public from the highest court in the land.
“From the standpoint of how this leak came about with an independent judiciary and independent Supreme Court. We’ve never had that. I think that is going to be another topic of discussion. John Roberts the Chief Justice has asked for a thorough investigation to find out how this leak occurred and to make sure that the person or persons who did it are held accountable on it.
And of course, nothing is final until the decision, if there’s a decision, comes out. Which most likely won’t be until the end of June. But there is no doubt this terrible and inappropriate and illegal leak should have never happened and we need to get to the bottom of that.”
LaHood says about the leak that he wants to wait and see what happens in the investigation, however, he does think the leak was absolutely intentional. “I think this is most likely somebody on the Democratic side that saw this coming and leaked it. I think that’s terrible for our system of government and the judiciary and the independence of the judiciary.”
LaHood says he has always been proudly Pro-Life and has advocated in the past that Roe vs. Wade was decided wrongly by the Supreme Court back in 1972 when the landmark decision was rendered.
He says if the leaked decision is found to stand officially in the coming weeks, it will revert the decision governing abortion to the states, which LaHood says is the way it should be. “The states ought to be the laboratories of democracy. What that means is I don’t always agree with what goes on in Illinois, in my own state, California, or New York does on the abortion issue. But it ought to be left up to states to make those decisions.”
LaHood says as long as he is in public office he will remain Pro-Life and continue to advocate for getting rid of Roe vs. Wade.