Possibility of Overturning Roe V. Wade

Floor Speech

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Mr. BURCHETT. Madam Speaker, I thank Vice Chairman Johnson. I appreciate your stand on life. It is heartfelt, and I really do appreciate it.

I will address two points, Madam Speaker, about the U.S. Supreme Court's draft ruling that was intentionally leaked to the press: one, whoever leaked the decision--I feel they are pretty gutless--they need to be held accountable for violating the sanctity of our Nation's highest Court; two, the pro-abortion activists are lying about what overturning Roe v. Wade really means.

First, I believe this leak was an act of political intimidation by left-wing operatives, and now the Supreme Court Justices are being forced to deal with an angry mob over a draft decision that was supposed to be confidential. If you check the date on that leak, Madam Speaker, it was not a recent draft, so this is obviously well-planned.

I know Roe v. Wade is a controversial case that gets a lot of folks fired up. I feel strongly about it, too. I think it should be overturned. But leaking a confidential draft opinion is not the way the Supreme Court is supposed to operate. It is supposed to uphold our laws and our Constitution regardless of the political drama here in Congress and down the street at the White House. Dragging the Justices into the political chaos is unacceptable, Madam Speaker, which is why I wrote to the director of the FBI demanding he launch an investigation into the leak. We are yet to hear a response. I have been very disappointed in the FBI. This is another one of those instances where it is not so much my local folks, but here at the national level they continue to let us down.

To my second point, the pro-abortion activists are panicking and screaming that this decision would immediately eliminate abortions across the country. That is not remotely true, Madam Speaker. Overturning Roe v. Wade would not impose any kind of national abortion ban but would leave those decisions to State governments.

For some States that value the lives of unborn children, overturning Roe v. Wade would allow our lawmakers to better protect these sweet little babies. In my home State of Tennessee and in several other States, this decision would activate trigger laws that would outlaw abortions in those States.

I believe currently in Washington, D.C., it would still be legal, if I understand the law correctly. However, in States that don't value the lives of unborn children and celebrate abortion as a human right--which it is not--their laws would remain unchanged. Overturning Roe v. Wade would not outlaw abortions across the country, as many pro-abortion activists would have you believe. It would simply give State legislators more freedom to pass their own laws.

I promised east Tennesseans I would fight to protect life and uphold our laws while I serve in Congress, and I intend to keep that promise. I will keep pushing to hold the person who leaked the decision accountable--although I doubt the FBI will lift much of a finger to do anything about it, Madam Speaker--and, more importantly, I will always keep fighting for the lives of the unborn.

I thank Chairman Johnson. His leadership skills are lackluster at best, but on this issue, Madam Speaker, he is exceptional. I thank him for that. I believe his gifts will be eternal for that, so I thank my brother.

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