{"id":143133,"date":"2022-06-24T20:46:03","date_gmt":"2022-06-25T03:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=143133"},"modified":"2022-06-24T20:46:03","modified_gmt":"2022-06-25T03:46:03","slug":"president-biden-on-the-supreme-court-decision-to-overturn-roe-v-wade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=143133","title":{"rendered":"President Biden on the Supreme Court Decision to Overturn Roe v. Wade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Today is a \u2014 it\u2019s not hyperbole to suggest a very solemn moment.  Today, the Supreme Court of the United States expressly took away a constitutional right from the American people that it had already recognized.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jI9B1GLkiQQ\" title=\"President Biden Delivers Remarks on the Supreme Court Decision\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>They didn\u2019t limit it.  They simply took it away.  That\u2019s never been done to a right so important to so many Americans.<\/p>\n<p>But they did it.  And it\u2019s a sad day for the Court and for the country.<\/p>\n<p>Fifty years ago, Roe v. Wade was decided and has been the law of the land since then.<\/p>\n<p>This landmark case protected a woman\u2019s right to choose, her right to make intensely personal decisions with her doctor, free from the inter- \u2014 from interference of politics.<\/p>\n<p>It reaffirmed basic principles of equality \u2014 that women have the power to control their own destiny.  And it reinforced the fundamental right of privacy \u2014 the right of each of us to choose how to live our lives.<\/p>\n<p>Now, with Roe gone, let\u2019s be very clear: The health and life of women in this nation are now at risk.<\/p>\n<p>As Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, as Vice President and now as President of the United States, I\u2019ve studied this case carefully.  I\u2019ve overseen more Supreme Court confirmations than anyone today, where this case was always discussed.<\/p>\n<p>I believe Roe v. Wade was the correct decision as a matter of constitutional law, an application of the fundamental right to privacy and liberty in matters of family and personal autonomy.<\/p>\n<p>It was a decision on a complex matter that drew a careful balance between a woman\u2019s right to choose earlier in her pregnancy and the state\u2019s ability to regulate later in her pregnancy.  A decision with broad national consensus that most Americans of faiths and backgrounds found acceptable and that had been the law of the land for most of the lifetime of Americans today.<\/p>\n<p>And it was a constitutional principle upheld by justices appointed by Democrat and Republican Presidents alike. <\/p>\n<p>Roe v. Wade was a 7 to 2 decision written by a justice appointed by a Republican President, Richard Nixon.  In the five decades that followed Roe v. Wade, justices appointed by Republican Presidents \u2014 from Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, George W. [H.W.] Bush \u2014 were among the justices who voted to uphold the principles set forth in Roe v. Wade.<\/p>\n<p>It was three justices named by one President \u2014 Donald Trump \u2014 who were the core of today\u2019s decision to upend the scales of justice and eliminate a fundamental right for women in this country.<\/p>\n<p>Make no mistake: This decision is the culmination of a deliberate effort over decades to upset the balance of our law.  It\u2019s a realization of an extreme ideology and a tragic error by the Supreme Court, in my view.<\/p>\n<p>The Court has done what it has never done before: expressly take away a constitutional right that is so fundamental to so many Americans that had already been recognized.<\/p>\n<p>The Court\u2019s decision to do so will have real and immediate consequences.  State laws banning abortion are automatically taking effect today, jeopardizing the health of millions of women, some without exceptions. <\/p>\n<p>So extreme that women could be punished for protecting their health.<\/p>\n<p>So extreme that women and girls who are forced to bear their rapist\u2019s child \u2014 of the child of consequence. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a \u2014 it just \u2014 it just stuns me. <\/p>\n<p>So extreme that doctors will be criminalized for fulfilling their duty to care.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine having \u2014 a young woman having to ch- \u2014 carry the child of incest \u2014 as a consequence of incest.  No option. <\/p>\n<p>Too often the case that poor women are going to be hit the hardest.  It\u2019s cruel.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, the Court laid out state laws criminalizing abortion that go back to the 1800s as rationale \u2014 the Court literally taking America back 150 years. <\/p>\n<p>This a sad day for the country, in my view, but it doesn\u2019t mean the fight is over.<\/p>\n<p>Let me be very clear and unambiguous: The only way we can secure a woman\u2019s right to choose and the balance that existed is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade as federal law.<\/p>\n<p>No executive action from the President can do that.  And if Congress, as it appears, lacks the vote \u2014 votes to do that now, voters need to make their voices heard.<\/p>\n<p>This fall, we must elect more senators and representatives who will codify a woman\u2019s right to choose into federal law once again, elect more state leaders to protect this right at the local level.<\/p>\n<p>We need to restore the protections of Roe as law of the land.  We need to elect officials who will do that.<\/p>\n<p>This fall, Roe is on the ballot.  Personal freedoms are on the ballot.  The right to privacy, liberty, equality, they\u2019re all on the ballot. <\/p>\n<p>Until then, I will do all in my power to protect a woman\u2019s right in states where they will face the consequences of today\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n<p>While the Court\u2019s decision casts a dark shadow over a large swath of the land, many states in this country still recognize a woman\u2019s right to choose.<\/p>\n<p>So if a woman lives in a state that restricts abortion, the Supreme Court\u2019s decision does not prevent her from traveling from her home state to the state that allows it.  It does not prevent a doctor in that state \u2014 in that state from treating her.<\/p>\n<p>As the Attorney General has made clear, women must remain free to travel safely to another state to seek the care they need.  And my administration will defend that bedrock right. <\/p>\n<p>If any state or local official, high or low, tries to interfere with a woman\u2019s ex- \u2014 exercising her basic right to travel, I will do everything in my power to fight that deeply un-American attack.<\/p>\n<p>My administration will also protect a woman\u2019s access to medications that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration \u2014 the FDA \u2014 like contraception, which is essential for preventative healthcare; mifepristone, which the FDA approved 20 years ago to safely end early pregnancies and is commonly used to treat miscarriages.<\/p>\n<p>Some states are saying that they\u2019ll try to ban or severely restrict access to these medications. <\/p>\n<p>But extremist governors and state legislators who are looking to block the mail or search a person\u2019s medicine cabinet or control a woman\u2019s actions by tracking data on her apps she uses are wrong and extreme and out of touch with the majority of Americans.<\/p>\n<p>The American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists wrote to me and Vice President Harris stressing that these laws are not based on \u2014 are not based on evidence and asking us to act to protect access to care.  They say by limiting access to these medicines, maternal mortality will climb in America.  That\u2019s what they say.<\/p>\n<p>Today, I\u2019m directing the Department of Health and Human Services to take steps to ensure that these critical medications are available to the fullest extent possible and that politicians cannot interfere in the decisions that should be made between a woman and her doctor.  And my administration will remain vigilant as the implications of this decision play out.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve warned about how this decision risks the broader right to privacy for everyone.  That\u2019s because Roe recognized the fundamental right to privacy that has served as the basis for so many more rights that we have come to take \u2014 we\u2019ve come to take for granted that are ingrained in the fabric of this country: the right to make the best decisions for your health; the right to use birth control \u2014 a married couple \u2014 in the privacy of their bedroom, for God\u2019s sake; the right to marry the person you love. <\/p>\n<p>Now, Justice Thomas said as much today.  He explicitly called to reconsider the right of marriage equality, the right of couples to make their choices on contraception.  This is an extreme and dangerous path the Court is now taking us on. <\/p>\n<p>Let me close with two points. <\/p>\n<p>First, I call on everyone, no matter how deeply they care about this decision, to keep all protests peaceful.  Peaceful, peaceful, peaceful.  No intimidation.  Violence is never acceptable.  Threats and intimidation are not speech.  We must stand against violence in any form regardless of your rationale.<\/p>\n<p>Second, I know so many of us are frustrated and disillusioned that the Court has taken something away that\u2019s so fundamental.  I know so many women are now going to face incredibly difficult situations.  I hear you.  I support you.  I stand with you. <\/p>\n<p>The consequences and the consensus of the American people \u2014 core principles of equality, liberty, dignity, and the stability of the rule of law \u2014 demand that Roe should not have been overturned.<\/p>\n<p>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 country.  They have made the United States an outlier among developed nations in the world.  But this decision must not be the final word.<\/p>\n<p>My administration will use all of its appropriate lawful powers.  But Congress must act.  And with your vote, you can act.  You can have the final word.  This is not over.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you very much.  I\u2019ll have more to say on this in weeks to come.  Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Today is a \u2014 it\u2019s not hyperbole to suggest a very solemn moment. 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\u2019t limit it. They simply took it away. That\u2019s never been done to a right so important [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1599,"featured_media":143134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Fullscreen-capture-6242022-84425-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1599"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=143133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":143135,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143133\/revisions\/143135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/143134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=143133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=143133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=143133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}