President Joe Biden has addressed the American people following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
In Biden’s speech, delivered on June 24, the president described the court’s decision as a “sad day” for the country and the court. “Today, the Supreme Court of the United States expressly took away a constitutional right from the American people that it already recognized,” he began. “They didn’t limit it, they simply took it away. That’s never been done to a right so important to so many Americans…. It is a sad day for the court and for the country.”
He continued, “This landmark case protected a woman’s right to choose. A right to make intensely personal decisions with their doctor, free from the interference of politics. It reaffirmed basic principles of equality, that women have the power to control their own destiny, and it reinforced the fundamental right to privacy. The right of each of us to choose how to live our lives. Now with Roe gone, let’s be very clear: The health and life of women in this nation are now at risk.”
In his speech, the president promised that his administration “will use all of its appropriate lawful powers” to protect Americans’ right to body autonomy and privacy. Biden swore to uphold a patient’s “bedrock right” to travel across state lines for access to safe and legal abortions as well as work to protect access to contraception and FDA-approved medications like mifepristone, which can end a pregnancy before 10 weeks. However, Biden emphasized that it’s up to Congress to restore abortion rights as federal law.
“This decision must not be the final word. My administration will use all of its appropriate lawful powers, but Congress must act,” Joe Biden continued. “With your vote, you can act, you can have the final word. This is not over.”
You can watch the full speech, here:
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