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Just a day after Roe v. Wade was struck down, a Texas lawmaker suggested the Supreme Court overturn another landmark case, but this time, one concerning Black civil rights.
On Friday (June 24), news of the conservative-majority Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade, a landmark case that has protected the right to have an abortion for nearly 50 years, sparked outrage across the nation.
Activists, politicians, and A-listers spoke out and denounced the ruling as an attack on women's rights and its disproportionate impact on low-income and women of color.
However, as protests and dissent erupted, Texas GOP Senator John Cornyn proposed a landmark civil rights case be overturned next in response to former President Barack Obama condemning SCOTUS' decision.
"Now do Plessy vs Ferguson/Brown vs Board of Education," Cornyn tweeted on Saturday (June 25).
The Republican senator's rally to reverse the landmark case that struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine was a direct reference to Obama's tweet against Roe v. Wade's overturn.
Obama tweeted, "Today, the Supreme Court not only reversed nearly 50 years of precedent, it relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues—attacking the essential freedoms of millions of Americans."
Cornyn immediately received backlash for relating segregation to abortion rights.
Others rushed to his defense saying the Texas senator only meant to highlight other instances where SCOTUS' decisions were reversed.
Still, after receiving widespread criticism, Cornyn issued another tweet seemingly trying to clarify his prior statement.
"Thank goodness some SCOTUS precedents are overruled," Cornyn said.
Cornyn's statements come after the Supreme Court's leaked draft opinion came to fruition striking down abortion protections.
"The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the Supreme Court opinion.
Decisions on abortion access will now be left in the hands of each state.
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