Biden on Today’s SCOTUS Decision: ‘This is Not Over’
Author: Christopher Wiggins
President Joe Biden addressed the cameras this afternoon to criticize the U.S. Supreme Court for overturning Roe v. Wade.
Biden said that the U.S. government had stripped Americans of a constitutional right for the first time in history.
“Today, the Supreme Court of the United States expressly took away a Constitutional right from the American people that it had already recognized. They didn’t limit it. They simply took it away,” he said.
During his speech, he discussed how women were allowed to make decisions about their body autonomy based on their choices and discussions with their doctors for nearly 50 years.
“Now with Roe gone, let’s be very clear. The health and life of women in this nation are now at risk,” Biden said.
During his tenure as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden confirmed many justices who upheld Roe v. Wade, according to the president.
“It was three justices named by one president, Donald Trump, who were at the core of today’s decision to upend the scales of justice and eliminate a fundamental right for women in this country,” Biden said.
He warned that today’s ruling would have immediate consequences.
“State laws banning abortion are automatically taking effect today, jeopardizing the health of millions of women,” Biden said. “So extreme that women could be punished for protecting their health. So extreme that women and girls are forced to bear their rapist’s child.”
The rationale behind today’s decision is partly based on laws passed in the 1800s, he commented. “The Court [is] literally taking America back 150 years,” Biden said. “This is a sad day for the country, in my view.”
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In his address, the president called on lawmakers to restore women’s rights.
“The only way we can secure a woman’s right to choose…is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade as federal law,” Biden said while calling for voters to elect more Democrats.
“This fall, Roe is on the ballot,” Biden said. “Personal freedoms are on the ballot. The right to privacy, liberty, equality — they’re all on the ballot.”
Women who live in states that do not allow abortion can still travel to states that provide such medical care.
Additionally, he noted that overturning Roe affects all Americans since the ruling protected privacy rights and other crucial protections.
“The right to make the best decisions for your health. The right to use birth control…the right to marry the person you love,” he said.
Biden took a particular exception to the language used by Justice Clarence Thomas.
“He explicitly called to consider the right of marriage equality, the right of couples to make their choices on contraception,” Biden said.
“With this decision, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court shows how extreme it is. How far removed they are from the majority of this county. They made the united states an outlier among developed nations in the world. But this decision must not be the final word,” Biden went on.
“It just stuns me,” Biden said, seemingly exasperated. “This is not over.”
Original Article on The Advocate
Author: Christopher Wiggins
