RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE Speaks Out In Support Of Abortion Rights

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE has spoken out against the leaked draft opinion penned by Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito arguing that the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion ruling was "egregiously wrong from the start."

Four days after Politico published the opinion, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE released a statement in support of abortion rights and expressing outrage and horror at the prospect of SCOTUS overturning Roe.

"RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE stands in support of reproductive justice and will continue to fight against any attempts to restrict or control reproductive freedoms," the band's statement reads. "Criminalizing access to abortion will only add to the suffering disproportionately felt by poor, BIPOC and undocumented communities.

"The constant rightward shift of both major parties should alarm us all — a wake up call that we desperately need to organize radical people power against a warfare state that continues its assault on people's lives."

According to the Politico report, the draft was circulated in February. Alito was reportedly joined by justices Clarence Thomas and all three of former President Donald Trump's nominees — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — while justices Stephen Breyer, Elana Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor were working on dissents. It was unclear how Chief Justice John Roberts voted.

The 1973 Roe v. Wade court decision affirmed the right to receive an abortion under the 14th Amendment, ruling that abortions were constitutionally protected up until about 23 weeks when a fetus can typically live outside the womb.

In the 98-page draft, Alito said Roe was wrongly decided, saying the issue should be decided by politicians, not courts. If Roe is reversed, it would not federally outlaw abortion. However, it would shift the power to states to decide on the procedure's legality.

According to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll, almost twice as many Americans (50 percent) say they want the court to reaffirm Roe v. Wade as say they want it overturned (28 percent). 22 percent are undecided, according to the poll. Majorities of Democrats (68 percent) and Independents (52 percent) say Roe should not be overturned, while a narrow majority of Republicans (51 percent) say it should.

Critics have said that tossing out the landmark rulings establishing abortion rights would tarnish the court's reputation and open the floodgates to other challenges to well-settled law.