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President Joe Biden Reacts To Roe V Wade Supreme Court News

Photo of Carmine Sabia Carmine SabiaMay 3, 2022
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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.

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President Joe Biden has responded to the leaked document that alleges to be a decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe V Wade and return the decision on abortion laws to the states.

Conspicuously in his statement, the president, who talks often about respecting norms and institutions, did not address a key point. The leak in the Supreme Court that allowed this document to be reported.

“We do not know whether this draft is genuine, or whether it reflects the final decision of the Court,” the president said.

“With that critical caveat, I want to be clear on three points about the cases before the Supreme Court.

“First, my administration argued strongly before the Court in defense of Roe v. Wade. We said that Roe is based on ‘a long line of precedent recognizing ‘the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty’… against government interference with intensely personal decisions.’ I believe that a woman’s right to choose is fundamental, Roe has been the law of the land for almost fifty years, and basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that it not be overturned,” he argued.

“Second, shortly after the enactment of Texas law SB 8 and other laws restricting women’s reproductive rights, I directed my Gender Policy Council and White House Counsel’s Office to prepare options for an Administration response to the continued attack on abortion and reproductive rights, under a variety of possible outcomes in the cases pending before the Supreme Court. We will be ready when any ruling is issued,” the president said.

“Third, if the Court does overturn Roe, it will fall on our nation’s elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman’s right to choose. And it will fall on voters to elect pro-choice officials this November.  At the federal level, we will need more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law,” he said.

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He joined other liberals who were incensed at the alleged decision by the court.

One of the first to respond was former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democrat presidential nominee.

“This decision is a direct assault on the dignity, rights, & lives of women, not to mention decades of settled law. It will kill and subjugate women even as a vast majority of Americans think abortion should be legal. What an utter disgrace,” she said, Reuters reported.

“An extremist Supreme Court is poised to overturn #RoeVWade and impose its far-right, unpopular views on the entire country. It’s time for the millions who support the Constitution and abortion rights to stand up and make their voices heard. We’re not going back — not ever,” she said.

And on Twitter she said, “Not surprising. But still outrageous. This decision is a direct assault on the dignity, rights, & lives of women, not to mention decades of settled law. It will kill and subjugate women even as a vast majority of Americans think abortion should be legal. What an utter disgrace.”

“November’s election is now the most important of our lifetime to protect women’s rights,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar said.

“It is a fundamental right for a woman to make her own health decisions. We must protect the right to choose and codify Roe v Wade into law,” she said.

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“If the report is accurate, the Supreme Court is poised to inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the past fifty years – not just on women but on all Americans,” Senate Majority Leader and New York Sen. Charles Schumer and House Speaker and California Rep. Nancy Pelosi said in a joint statement.

“The Republican-appointed Justices’ reported votes to overturn Roe v. Wade would go down as an abomination, one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history,” they said.

“Several of these conservative Justices, who are in no way accountable to the American people, have lied to the U.S. Senate, ripped up the Constitution and defiled both precedent and the Supreme Court’s reputation – all at the expense of tens of millions of women who could soon be stripped of their bodily autonomy and the constitutional rights they’ve relied on for half a century.

“The party of Lincoln and Eisenhower has now completely devolved into the party of Trump.  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,” they said.

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“As we’ve warned, SCOTUS isn’t just coming for abortion – they’re coming for the right to privacy Roe rests on, which includes gay marriage + civil rights. Manchin is blocking Congress codifying Roe. House has seemingly forgotten about Clarence Thomas. These 2 points must change,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said.

“An extremist Supreme Court is poised to overturn #RoeVWade and impose its far-right, unpopular views on the entire country. It’s time for the millions who support the Constitution and abortion rights to stand up and make their voices heard. We’re not going back—not ever,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren said.

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Photo of Carmine Sabia Carmine SabiaMay 3, 2022