A Republican senator drew widespread criticism this weekend after citing an historic racial segregation ruling amid reactions to the Supreme Court’s horrifying decision on abortion.
As previously reported, former POTUS Barack Obama addressed the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in a statement shared to social media on Friday. Per Obama, the Supreme Court had “not only reversed nearly 50 years of precedent” but also “relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues.”
When responding to Obama’s statement on Twitter, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said “Now do Plessy vs Ferguson/Brown vs Board of Education.” The Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision saw the court ruling in 1954 that state-level laws on public school segregation were unconstitutional. The move, notably, marked a partial overruling from the court of its 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision.
Cornyn’s comment was widely criticized on Saturday, with the Texas Republican being called out as “racist” and “an [irredeemable] piece of shite.” See more of the ensuing discourse below.
Shortly after sharing the original tweet, Cornyn issued a follow-up in which he added, “Thank goodness some SCOTUS precedents are overruled.”
On Friday, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, enabling abortion bans in a number of states. Addressing this attack on reproductive rights, President Biden cautioned in remarks delivered from Cross Hall that the “health and life of women in this nation are now at risk.”
For info on how to donate to the National Network of Abortion Funds’ Crisis Relief Fund, hit this link.
