Millions of women in the US will lose the legal right to abortion, after the Supreme Court overturned a 50-year-old ruling that legalised it nationwide. The court struck down the landmark Roe v Wade decision, weeks after an unprecedented leaked document suggested it favoured doing so.
Within an hour of the decision, the section of street outside the courthouse was nearly full with demonstrators both celebrating and protesting the ruling. Besides the gathering outside the court, the country also seems to be divided when it comes to opinions regarding the ruling.
President Biden will address the nation on the Roe v. Wade ruling at 12:30 today from the White House.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) June 24, 2022
Reacting to the ruling, Former US President Barack Obama condemned the decision and said that the court “not only reversed nearly 50 years of precedent but attacked the essential freedoms of millions of Americans”. Obama added that although this verdict was anticipated, it still does not make it less devastating.
In a tweet, Obama wrote: “Today, the Supreme Court not only reversed nearly 50 years of precedent, it relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues—attacking the essential freedoms of millions of Americans.”
Across the country, states have already passed bills restricting choice. If you’re looking for ways to respond, @PPFA, @USOWomen, and many other groups have been sounding the alarm on this issue for years—and will continue to be on the front lines of this fight. pic.twitter.com/PpXBEcbL2S
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 24, 2022
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, too, denounced the decision, calling it a hypocrisy that will cause endless harm. “The hypocrisy is raging, but the harm is endless. What this means to women is such an insult. It’s a slap in face to women about using their own judgment to make their own decisions about their reproductive freedom,” she said Friday.
However, on the other side of the divide, Governor of Mississippi Tate Reeves quickly welcomed the ruling, saying his state had “led the nation to overcome one of the greatest injustices in the history of our country”. “This decision will directly result in more hearts beating, more strollers pushed, more report cards given, more little league games played, and more live well lived. It is a joyous day!” he wrote.
Former Vice-President Mike Pence, a long-standing critic of Roe v Wade, said: “The judgement has given the American people a new beginning. Having been given this second chance for life, we must not rest and must not relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the centre of American law in every state in the land.”
Following the Supreme Court decision, Missouri has become the first state in the country to effectively end abortion. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt called the verdict a “historic day” along with remembering over 60 million innocent lives lost due to abortions. “I have always fought to protect the unborn. Because of our action today, millions of lives will be protected moving forward,” Schmitt wrote on Twitter.
THREAD: Today is a historic day, but we also remember over 60 million innocent lives lost. There was a lot of work behind the scenes before we achieved this incredible victory. Here are some of our efforts to protect all, including the unborn. pic.twitter.com/rI8GTLgr5r
— Attorney General Eric Schmitt (@AGEricSchmitt) June 24, 2022
Numerous Republican-led states have also passed various abortion restrictions in defiance of the Roe precedent in the recent years. Before the Roe decision, many states banned abortion, leaving women who wanted to terminate a pregnancy with few options.
