The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which protected federal abortion rights for almost half a century, will likely dominate this week’s Sunday shows circuit.
The court issued its ruling on Friday in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The case concerned a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks. Six justices voted to uphold the law, with five of them choosing to go farther in ruling that the Constitution does not grant protection for the right to abortion.
The majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, is similar to a draft that leaked last month revealing that the court was poised to overturn Roe. The ruling also overturned Casey v. Planned Parenthood, a 1992 case that allowed states to place more restrictions on abortion access but upheld a constitutional right to abortion.
Following the ruling, a range of Republican leaders applauded the decision, arguing that Roe was decided wrongly and that the court has now rightly returned decisions on abortion rights to the states.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said in a release following the decision that the ruling is a “turning point” for the United States, adding that he fought against abortion for decades. After Arkansas’s attorney general certified that the court’s had overturned Roe, the state’s trigger law went into effect banning abortion.
Hutchinson, who will appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and CBS’s “Face the Nation,” said he will direct the Arkansas Department of Health to enforce the state’s law and conduct “necessary inspections” to ensure abortion providers are following the law and understand the penalties for breaking it.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) also praised the ruling, saying that abortion has “two victims: the unborn child and the mother.” The state’s trigger law banning abortion also went into effect after the ruling.
Noem said in a release that she plans to call a special session of the state legislature to “save lives and help mothers” who will be impacted by the decision. She will appear on ABC’s “This Week.”
“We must do what we can to help mothers in crisis know that there are options and resources available for them,” Noem said. “Together, we will ensure that abortion is not only illegal in South Dakota – it is unthinkable.”
Republican members of Congress also commended the ruling. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) tweeted that the decision will give the American people “their proper voice” on the issue, and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said on the House floor that the decision is a “win for the Constitution and a win for the sanctity of human life.”
Both will appear on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tweeted that the decision is a “long-overdue constitutional correction,” saying that Roe was wrongly decided from the beginning. He said it was one of the “largest power grabs” in the history of the Supreme Court.
He will appear on “Fox News Sunday.”
Top Democratic leaders have been just as vocal on the other side of the issue, denouncing the decision as taking away protections for women that have stood for almost 50 years.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will also appear on ABC’s “This Week.” She said after the ruling was handed down that six “radical” justices on the court are responsible for stripping away a constitutional right.
“After decades of scheming, Republican politicians have finally forced their unpopular agenda on the rest of America,” Warren said in a statement.
Republican leaders have called for appointing judges who will oppose Roe v. Wade for years, and former President Trump said opposing abortion rights was a characteristic he was looking for in appointing judges to the Supreme Court. He appointed three of the court’s current justices during his term, all of whom voted to overturn Roe.
Warren wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times along with Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) on Saturday that President Biden needs to take executive action to protect abortion rights, including declaring a public health emergency on the issue.
“The danger is real, and Democrats must meet it with the urgency it deserves,” they wrote.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) made similar calls for Biden to take action in response to the ruling. She said when meeting with protesters that Biden should have abortion clinics opened on federal lands in states that have banned abortions.
The theory behind the policy would be that since the land is owned by the federal government, states do not have jurisdiction over these areas and could not enforce abortion bans.
Ocasio-Cortez said Biden and Democratic leaders need to take steps beyond encouraging voting for Democratic candidates so the party can gain sufficient power in Congress to potentially pass legislation on the issue.
Democrats hold a majority in the House and the tie-breaking vote in the evenly divided Senate, but Senate filibuster rules require most legislation to receive at least 60 votes to pass in the upper chamber. Under those rules, Democrats would need at least 10 Republican votes in favor of codifying the protections of Roe into law in order to approve such legislation.
Ocasio-Cortez is appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
The ruling has also received international attention as numerous world leaders have criticized the decision.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the court removing people’s constitutional right to abortion will be a “big step backwards” that will affect others’ thinking around the world. Johnson will appear on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The work of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection will also be likely be discussed on a few shows as the committee wraps up a week that included two additional public hearings. The hearings this week focused on two elements of Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election: pressure on local and state officials and on the Justice Department.
After holding a series of five public hearings throughout June, the committee decided to postpone its remaining hearings until next month as it obtains new evidence and issues subpoenas to additional witnesses.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said the committee has been confronted with a “deluge” of new evidence since the hearings started, and members need time to organize it and determine how it will play into the committee’s plans for the remaining hearings.
“And we just need to catch our breath, go through the new evidence, and then incorporate it into the hearings we have planned,” said Raskin, who is appearing on ABC’s “This Week.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) took a leading role in asking questions on Tuesday of state officials whom Trump attempted to convince against certifying their state’s election results.
He questioned Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R), Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) and Raffensperger’s deputy, Gabe Sterling. He also spoke to Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, a former Georgia elections worker who received death threats after being falsely accused of counting fraudulent ballots for Biden.
Schiff will be on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
CBS’s “Face the Nation” will also feature Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), who took a lead role in questioning at the committee’s hearing last week that focused on Trump’s pressure on former Vice President Mike Pence. Aguilar said in an interview with NBC News last week that Trump knew the Capitol had been breached when he sent a tweet criticizing Pence for refusing to not certify the election results. Marc Short, Pence’s, former chief of staff, will appear on the show as well.
Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows:
ABC’s “This Week” — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.); Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.); Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)
NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.); Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.); Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)
CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Hutchinson; Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.); Marc Short, former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence; Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.); David Malpass, president of the World Bank
CNN’s “State of the Union” — Secretary of State Antony Blinken; British Prime Minister Boris Johnson; Stacey Abrams, Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia
“Fox News Sunday” — Abrams; Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
FOX News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.); Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee; John Solomon, editor-in-chief of “Just the News”; Mark Levin, host of “Life, Liberty And Levin”; Monica De La Cruz, Texas congressional candidate (R)