![Rep. PRamila Jayapal makes absurd claim about SCOTUS on CNN [Screenshot CNN]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screen-Shot-2022-05-03-at-5.35.59-PM-e1651613811725.png "Rep. PRamila Jayapal makes absurd claim about SCOTUS on CNN [Screenshot CNN]")
Democratic Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal claimed Tuesday the Supreme Court lacks the authority to “change” Roe v. Wade because it’s been “settled law.”
Speaking on CNN, Jayapal called the leaked draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade a “stunning rebuke of precedent.”
“This is a stunning, stunning rebuke of precedent and of the fundamental freedom women have to make choices about our own bodies, our own futures and our own economic security and the thing is, these justices are acting like this is somehow something they have the right to change,” Jayapal said. “They do not have the right to change this, which has been settled law for two generations now of people who have grown up, have gone through their twenties, in firm belief that they can make these decisions about their own bodies.”
“The only thing that has changed is the makeup of the Supreme Court, the radicalization of the Supreme Court and if they can do this for this issue, it means they can ignore precedent for every other issue we’ve considered settled law. So we cannot accept it. I don’t think people across this country are going to accept it.”
“We now have to work extra hard to codify Roe v. Wade in the United States Congress,” she added. (RELATED: ‘Deepest Fears Are Coming True’: Abortion Lobby Plots Response To Likely Overturn Of Roe)
Despite Jayapal’s claim that the Supreme Court cannot buck precedent, the high court has reversed constitutional precedents at least 145 times, according to The Conversation. For example, the court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education reversed Plessy v. Ferguson, striking down segregation.
Politico reported Monday the court drafted an opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that would overturn Roe v. Wade. The opinion, drafted by Associate Justice Samuel Alito, says “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.”
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” the opinion continued. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
Chief Justice John Roberts called the leaking of the opinion a “betrayal” meant to “undermine the integrity” of the court.