Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) condemned the leak of the draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and spoke out against inaccurate characterizations of what that decision would accomplish.
In a tweet, Burchett shared the video of his floor speech. The tweet said:
I made two points on the House floor about the Supreme Court’s draft ruling on Roe v. Wade:
1. Whoever leaked the decision to the press must be held accountable.
2. Pro-abortion activists are lying about what this decision would really mean. Our fight for life still isn’t over.
I made two points on the House floor about the Supreme Court's draft ruling on Roe v. Wade:
1. Whoever leaked the decision to the press must be held accountable.
2. Pro-abortion activists are lying about what this decision would really mean. Our fight for life still isn't over. pic.twitter.com/xs410AABiE— Rep. Tim Burchett (@RepTimBurchett) May 13, 2022
Burchett expanded on those points when he said on the floor, “I want to address two points about the Supreme Court’s draft ruling that was intentionally leaked to the press. One, whoever leaked the decision, I feel like they’re pretty gutless. They need to be held accountable for their violating the sanctity of our nation’s highest court.”
“Two, the pro-abortion activists are lying about what overturning Roe v. Wade really means,” the congressman said.
“I believe 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. And if you’ll check the date on that leak, it was not a recent draft, so this is obviously well-planned,” he said.
“I know Roe v. Wade is a controversial case that gets a lot of folks fired up. I feel strongly about it, too,” he continued. “I think it should be overturned, but leaking a confidential draft opinion is not the way that the Supreme Court is supposed to operate.”
“It’s supposed to uphold our laws and our Constitution, regardless of political drama here in Congress and down the street at the White House,” he said. “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. I have yet to hear a response.”
“I’ve been very disappointed in the FBI, and this is another one of those instances,” he said, concluding his first point.
On his second point, Burchett pushed back against the claims made by pro-abortion groups and activists.
“The pro-abortion activists are panicking and screaming that this decision would immediately eliminate abortions across the country. That’s not remotely true, Madam Speaker,” he said. “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 our lawmakers to better protect our sweet little babies,” he continued. “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,” said the representative. “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.”
Explaining what the leaked decision actually would accomplish, Burchett said, “Overturning Roe v. Wade wouldn’t outlaw abortions across this 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 protect life and uphold our laws while serving in Congress and I intend to keep that promise,” he said.
“More importantly, I’ll always keep fighting for the lives of the unborn,” he said, concluding his points.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, and Parler.
Photo “Tim Burchett” by U.S. House of Representatives. Background Photo “United States Supreme Court” by Sunira Moses. CC BY-SA 3.0.
Thank you Congressman Burchett for having the intestinal fortitude to state the facts and call it like it is. I tip my hat to Tennessee Star for printing it.
I fully agree with you Randy. Whomever released the information, regardless of their position in the Supreme Court System (to include a current Justice) needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The release was deliberate and deceitful with an intent to create ill will.