Abortion rights in the U.S. are in legal jeopardy following a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion, and advocates are worried that other rights, such as same-sex marriage, could also be on the chopping block, legal experts told Sue O'Connell on Greater Boston.
Mary Bonauto, civil rights project director at GLAD, and one of the attorneys who argued the landmark same-sex marriage case in front of the Supreme Court, said the right to same-sex marriage is legally connected to the right to legal abortion.
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It all boils down to the 14th Amendment, which promises liberty and equality. Bonauto said same-sex marriage and abortion are connected because, "abortion also finds its roots in the idea of privacy at the time, but really the constitutional text about liberty that people have the right to make some very important decisions for themselves."
Arline Isaacson, co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus, said overturning Roe has implications that reach far beyond reproductive rights. Isaacson said the issue centers simply on what individuals can do in the privacy of their own home with their bodies, and many of those rights are deeply interconnected and at risk.
"There are a lot of states that would love to eliminate the right to marry," she said. "The religious right in particular is hungry, they're chomping at the bit to be able to do this, and if this ends up being the Supreme Court's final decision, which we expect it will be, yeah they're going to be gunning for us too."
Watch: Attorney who argued for same sex marriage in front of SCOTUS concerned about draft leak
