California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes to build a statewide constitutional 'firewall' around abortion rights in response to leaked SCOTUS draft

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a statewide constitutional "firewall" around abortion rights.
• His statement came in response to a leaked SCOTUS draft opinion obtained and published by Politico.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday proposed building a statewide constitutional "firewall" around abortion rights, responding to the leaked draft opinion that shows the Supreme Court is set to overturn Roe v. Wade.

"California will build a firewall around this right in our state constitution," Newsom said in a joint statement with California's State Senate President Toni Atkins and State Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and shared by his office on Twitter.

The statement said California lawmakers will propose a constitutional amendment to "enshrine the right to choose."

"We can't trust SCOTUS to protect the right to abortion, so we'll do it ourselves," Newsom added in a tweet. "Women will remain protected here."

The leaked draft opinion obtained by Politico and published late Monday appears to show that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that provided women with the constitutional right to get an abortion.

The unprecedented leak is not the Court's final ruling, which is expected to come in late June amid the major case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.