Eric Swalwell asserts Republicans 'want to ban interracial marriage' after abortion

A Democratic lawmaker has accused Republicans of wanting to ban interracial marriage after a report said the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade and return the abortion issue to the states.

"The Republicans won’t stop with banning abortion. They want to ban interracial marriage," California Congressman Eric Swalwell tweeted just after midnight on Tuesday. "Do you want to save that? Well, then you should probably vote."

He made the accusation, without evidence, after Politico published a draft Supreme Court opinion Monday authored by Justice Samuel Alito that indicated the court has found its precedent in Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided. Chief Justice John Roberts later confirmed the authenticity of the document and announced an investigation to find the leaker.

Democrats were "angry, troubled, and deeply disturbed" by the report, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in an address Tuesday responding to the Politico report. In a separate joint statement with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Democratic leaders denounced the impending Supreme Court decision as "one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history."

"Every Republican Senator who supported Senator McConnell and voted for Trump Justices pretending that this day would never come will now have to explain themselves to the American people," the Democratic leaders said, demonstrating that the party will attempt to make preserving abortion rights a top campaign issue for the upcoming midterm elections.

Voters should expect increasingly heated campaign rhetoric as the election draws near, such as Swalwell's baseless claim that Republicans want to ban interracial marriage.

President Joe Biden, for example, warned Tuesday that if the Supreme Court follows through with a final decision that overturns Roe, privacy rights related to marriage and contraception could be in danger as well as abortion rights.

"One of the issues this court, many members of the court, have not acknowledged is there is a right to privacy in the Constitution," Biden said.

"If this decision holds, it really is a radical decision," he continued. "All of the decisions made in private life, who you marry, whether you can have an abortion, how you raise your child … it is a fundamental shift."

If Roe is overturned, the abortion issue would be returned to the states, where elected representatives will once again have the power to restrict or expand abortion access based on the will of voters.

At least 13 states have so-called "trigger laws" that would put abortion restrictions into effect as soon as the court officially overturns Roe, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Another 13 states have laws on the books imposing restrictions on abortion that either existed before Roe or have been blocked by courts.

A handful of Democrat-led states have vowed to pass laws creating safe-havens for women seeking abortions. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has promised to work with state lawmakers to codify abortion rights into the state's constitution, and other Democratic governors have pledged to take similar actions.