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Biden Delivers Remarks On The Historic Overturning Of Roe V. Wade

President Joe Biden speaks at a lectern with the seal of the president. He wears a dark suit with a white shirt and blue tie. A U.S. flag is over his right shoulder.
President Biden speaks Friday about the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning. R
(
Alex Wong
/
Getty Images
)

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President Biden delivered remarks on Friday's Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

"The health and life of women of our nation are now at risk," Biden said. "Make no mistake. This decision is the culmination of a deliberate effort over decades to upset the balance of our law."

Biden emphasized that this is the first time the court has revoked a constitutional right.

"Voters need to make their voices heard," Biden said, calling on voters to elect candidates that will restore the right to an abortion at the congressional and local level. "This fall Roe is on the ballot. Personal freedoms are on the ballot. The right to privacy, liberty, equality, they're all on the ballot."

The president said he would look to use his power to protect the women in the states that may ban abortion.

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"The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority," the court's conservatives wrote in their majority opinion. The Court overrules those decisions and returns that authority to the people and their elected representatives."

The three liberals dissented.

Within minutes of the ruling's release, Democratic congressional leaders put out statements admonishing voters to elect more Democrats while Republicans praised years of activism and pushed to go further.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., called out two of the justices who joined the majority: "I trusted Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh when they testified under oath that they also believed Roe v. Wade was settled legal precedent and I am alarmed they chose to reject the stability the ruling has provided for two generations of Americans."

Democrats currently control Congress, but they are expected to lose those majorities in the November midterm elections, which would allow Republicans to pass legislation on abortion.

A visibly angry House Speaker Nancy Pelosi denounced the decision and vowed the issue would be a factor in the midterm elections.

Pelosi warned: "Be aware of this: the Republican are plotting a nationwide abortion ban. They cannot be allowed to have a majority in the Congress to do that, but that's their goal."

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The parties have fought bitterly about abortion rights for years, and Friday's statements highlighted the acrimony between them, as they traded accusations of "extremism" and being "radicals."

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit npr.org.


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