WATCH: Hillary Clinton on why losing abortion rights would be a threat to democracy

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said if a leaked Supreme Court opinion in support of overturning Roe v. Wade becomes final, it will be "a direct assault on the dignity, rights and even lives of American women" — and more broadly, a threat to American democracy.

In an interview days after the leaked opinion, which suggested a majority of justices want to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision recognizing abortion as a constitutional right, Clinton told anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff that "it is perhaps only the beginning of this court trying to undo so much of the progress of the last 50 years."

She recalled her run for president in 2016, when "there was a complacency, an acceptance" even as she talked to voters about "the dangers that would be posed to this right and other rights."

"Honestly, Judy, people didn't believe me ... their attitude was, 'Oh, that sounds really far fetched, that'll never happen,'" Clinton recalled.

"Oftentimes in politics, the entrenched status quo position is just not as vigorously defended as the opposition position. And so those who wanted to overturn Roe, those who wanted to turn the clock back, were very motivated," she said. "The energy was on the side to overturn. Now, I hope that energy will shift to the side of those of us who want to protect the progress we've made."

Looking ahead to the midterms, Clinton said abortion will motivate a considerable number of voters, even alongside issues like economy and the inflation people are living with every day. "Let's not forget that making decisions about who gets to choose how your body is going to be treated is also a truly life or death opinion," one people have to account for when they are voting, she said.

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