AOC slams SCOTUS abortion decision, says women will die and too many children already in 'poverty'

Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decried the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and took particular issue with the state of Arkansas for banning most abortions after the landmark opinion was released.

"This decision and this policy will kill people no matter what their spin and what their talking points are," Ocasio-Cortez said on MSNBC’s "Meet the Press" on Sunday morning.

Host Chuck Todd has asked the congresswoman about Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signing into law a "trigger" statute that banned all abortions in the state except in the event to save a mother’s life. The law was signed after the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe on Friday.

"I couldn't disagree more with Governor Hutchinson, but I think what's really important is honing in on this idea that the … the governor and the Republican Party, and frankly the Republican legislature in Arkansas, cares about the life of a woman and the life of a mother," Ocasio-Cortez said.

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She went on to argue that the state has a high maternal mortality rate and children living in poverty, saying "forcing women to carry pregnancies against their will, will kill them."

"The state of Arkansas and Governor Hutchinson governs over a state that has the third-highest maternal mortality in the United States. 71% of the women who die are Black women as well. This is a state that has 26% child poverty, where one-in-four children are … living in poverty in the state of Arkansas."

"It will kill them, especially in the state of Arkansas, where there is very little to no support for life after birth, in terms of healthcare, in terms of childcare, and in terms of combating poverty," she continued.

Ocasio-Cortez has called the Supreme Court ruling on Friday "illegitimate" and called for supporters to take to "the streets" to fight for abortion.

The Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday, which effectively ends the recognition of abortion as a constitutional right, comes after a leaked draft opinion in May signaled the nation’s highest court would overturn Roe.