Pelosi says Republicans will 'criminalize abortion nationwide' and 'take aim at additional basic human rights' if Roe v. Wade is overturned

• Pelosi warned colleagues that Republicans will 'criminalize abortion nationwide' if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
• A leaked draft opinion revealed that the court is poised to revoke abortion rights next month.

In a letter addressed to colleagues on Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned that Republicans could outlaw abortion nationwide and revoke other rights if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court next month.

Her remarks come on the heels of the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overrule Roe and revoke the constitutional right to abortion. Politico reported that a majority of the justices — all conservatives — voted in favor of the opinion, though no final ruling is expected until June.

"If handed down, this decision by GOP-appointed Justices would mean that, for the first time in our history, America's daughters will have less freedom than their mothers," wrote Pelosi.

The five justices who voted for the opinion include three appointed by President Donald Trump: Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch.

"Republicans have made clear that their goal will be to seek to criminalize abortion nationwide," she wrote, adding that Republicans at the state level are advancing "extreme" measures like "seeking to arrest doctors for offering reproductive care, ban abortion entirely with no exceptions, and even charge women with murder who exercise their right to choose."

Over the weekend, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said a national abortion ban would be "possible" under a Republican majority in the Senate.

"If the leaked opinion became the final opinion, legislative bodies — not only at the state level but at the federal level — certainly could legislate in that area," said the Kentucky Republican. "And if this were the final decision, that was the point that it should be resolved one way or another in the legislative process. So yeah, it's possible."

Republican senators and anti-abortion activists are planning to push federal legislation that would ban abortion after six weeks, The Washington Post reported last week. The president of Susan B. Anthony List, a leading anti-abortion group, told The Post that the group has received assurances from several potential 2024 GOP presidential candidates that they would campaign on a national abortion ban.

Republicans have also already enacted a range of anti-abortion measures in states across the country, and abortion would quickly be criminalized in several states if the 1973 precedent is overturned by the court next month.

In response to the leaked draft opinion, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer scheduled a vote for Wednesday on the Women's Health Protection Act, which would write abortion protections into federal law in order to head off any decision by the high court. But while the House passed that same bill in September, the vote is expected to fail in the Senate due to opposition from Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Pelosi also argued that Republicans will "take aim at additional basic human rights" if the court overturns abortion protections, given the ruling's implications for privacy rights.

Some legal experts warn that the legal language contained in the draft opinion could imperil other rights like same-sex marriage and the right to use contraceptives, though others disagree.

Insider asked nearly a dozen Republican senators last week if they believe same-sex marriage could be overturned by the conservative-dominated court. Some said they believe the matter is "settled law," while others declined to "wade into" the debate at all.