It's a sad day for the court and
for the country. 50 years ago.
Roe V Wade was decided and has been
the law of the land since then.
This landmark case protected
woman's right to choose.
Her right to make intensely personal
decisions with their doctor free from
Internet from an interference of politics.
It reaffirmed basic principles of equality.
The women have the power to
control their own destiny.
And I reinforced a fundamental
right of privacy.
Right of each of us to choose how
to live our lives. Now with rogone.
Must be very clear.
The health and life of women
in this nation are now at risk.
As chairman and ranking member of
the Senate Judiciary Committee.
As Vice President and now as
President of the United States.
I've studied this case carefully.
I've overseen more Supreme Court
confirmations than anyone today.
Where this case was always discussed.
I believe Roe V Wade was
the correct decision.
As a matter of constitutional law and
application of the fundamental right
to privacy and liberty and matters
of family and personal autonomy.
Was a decision on a complex matter.
That you're a careful balance between
a woman's right to choose earlier
in their pregnancy and the state's
ability to regulate later in their pregnancy.
A decision with broad national consensus.
And most Americans of faith and
backgrounds found acceptable.
That have been the law of the
land for most of the lifetime.
Of Americans today.
And it was a constitutional principle upheld.
By justices appointed by Democrat.
And Republican presidents alike.
Roe V Wade was a seven to two decision
written by a justice appointed by
Republican President Richard Nixon.
In the five decades that followed,
Roe V.
Wade, justices appointed by
Republican presidents from Eisenhower,
Nixon,
Reagan,
George W Bush were among the
justices who voted to uphold the
principles set forth in Roe V.
Wade.
It was three justices named by one president.
Donald Trump were the core of today's
decision to upend the scales of
justice and eliminate a fundamental
right for women in this country.
Make no mistake.
This decision is a culmination of a
deliberate effort over decades to upset.
Balance of our law.
It's a realization of an extreme
ideology and a tragic error by
the Supreme Court in my view.
The court has done what
has never done before,
expressly take away a constitutional right.
That is so fundamental to so many Americans
that have already been recognized.
The course 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.
So extremely the women could be
punished for protecting their health.
So extreme that women and girls were
forced to bear their ****** child.
With the child a consequence.
Which. It just it just stuns me.
So extreme that doctors will be
criminalized for fulfilling their duty.
To care. Imagine having.
Young woman having to carry a child.
Of incest as a consequence of incest.
No option. Too often the case.
The poor women are gonna be hit the hardest.
It's cruel.
In fact, the court laid out state laws
criminalizing abortion that go back to
the 1800s as rationale the court, literally.
Taking America back 150 years.
This is a sad day for the country in my view.
But it doesn't mean the fight's over.
Let me be very clear and unambiguous.
The only way we can secure
a woman's right to choose.
The balance that existed.
Is for Congress to restore
the protections of Roe V.
Wade as federal law.
No executive action from
the president can do that.
And of Congress.
As it appears,
lacks the vote to vote to do that now.
Voters need to make their voices heard.
This fall.
We must elect more senators
and representatives who will
codify women's right to choose
in the federal law once again.
Elect more state leaders to protect
this right at the local level we
need to restore the protections
of Roe as law of the land.
When you do elect officials who will do that.
This fall row is on the ballot.
Personal freedoms are on the ballot.
The right to privacy, liberty, equality.
They're all on the ballot.
Until then I would do all of my
power to protect the woman's right
in states where they will face the
consequences of today's decision.
While the course decision casts a dark
shadow over large swaths of the land,
many states in this country still
recognize the woman's right to choose.
So if a woman lives in a state
that restricts abortion.
The Supreme Court's decision does not
prevent her from traveling from her
home state to the state that allows it.
Does not prevent a doctor in that state.
And that state from treating her.
As the attorney general has made clear,
women must remain free to travel safely
to another state to seek care they need.
My administration will defend
that bedrock, right?
If any state or local official high or
low tries to interfere with the woman's
exercise and her basic right to travel,
I will do everything in my power.
To fight that deeply unamerican attack.
My ministration will also protect
the woman's access to medications.
That are approved by the Food
and Drug Administration.
The FDA.
Like contraception,
which is essential for
preventative health care.
Mifepristone which FDA approved 20 years
ago to safely end early pregnancies.
And it's commonly used to treat miscarriages.
Some states are saying that they'll
try to ban or severely restrict
access to these medications.
But extremist governors and state
legislators are looking to block the mail.
Or search the person's medicine
cabinet or control a woman's actions
by tracking data on our apps.
She uses our wrong and extreme
and out of touch.
With the majority of Americans.
The American Medical Association.
The American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Wrote to me and vice President Harris,
stressing that these laws are not based
on 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's what they say.
Today I'm directing the Department of
Health and Human Services to take steps.
To ensure these critical medications are
available to the fullest extent possible.
And the politicians cannot interfere.
And the decision that should be
made between a woman and her doctor.
And my administration remained vigilant.
As the implications of this
decision play out.
I've warned about how this decision risked
the broader right to privacy for everyone.
That's because Roe recognized the
fundamental right to privacy.
That has served as a basis for so many
more rights that have come to take,
we've 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.
A married couple in the privacy
of their bedroom for God's sake.
The right to marry the person you love.
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 extreme and dangerous path.
The court is now taking us on.
Let me close to two points. 1st.
I call on everyone, no matter how
deeply they care about this decision,
to keep all protest peaceful.
Peaceful, peaceful, peaceful.
No intimidation.
Violence is never acceptable.
Threats and Tim and
intimidation are not speech.
We must stand against violence in any form.
Regardless of your rationale.
Second, I know.
So many of us are frustrated and
disillusioned that the court has taken
something away that's 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, the consequences.
And the consensus.
Of the American people.
Core principles of equality.
Liberty, dignity.
And the stability of the rule of law demand
that Roe should not have been overturned.
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 made the United States an outlier
among developed nations in the world.
But this decision must not be the final word.
My administration is all of
its appropriate lawful powers.
But Congress must act.
With your vote. You can act.
You can have the final word.
This is not over.
Thank you very much more to
say this in weeks to come.
Thank you.