Trump, Harris, lawmakers and officials weigh in on ruling
Immediately after the Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade, lawmakers and other elected officials and political appointees reacted to the end of Americans’ constitutional right to an abortion.
Here’s what they said about the decision:
Surgeon general: ‘Major step backward for public health’
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Friday called the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade “a major step backward for public health.”
When reproductive health decisions are restricted, the number of unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions rises, he said.
“Health care providers, who are already under extraordinary strains due to the pandemic, will be forced into an impossible choice between doing what’s right for their patients and complying with laws that are at odds with their patient’s health interest,” he continued.
Murthy said equitable access to reproductive health services is a “cornerstone for health.”
– Maureen Groppe
Harris calls decision a ‘health care crisis,’ urges people to vote
The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has thrown the nation into a “health care crisis,” Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday.
“Millions of women will go to bed tonight without access to the health care and reproductive care that they had this morning, without access to the same health care or reproductive health care that their mothers and grandmothers had for 50 years,” Harris said at a YMCA in Illinois.
“For nearly 50 years, we have talked about what Roe v. Wade protects,” Harris said. “Today, as of right now, as of this minute, we can only talk about what Roe v. Wade protected. Past tense.”
Harris stressed that those who object to the decision need to make their voices heard at the ballot box.
“You have the power to elect leaders who will defend and protect your rights,” she said. “With your vote, you can act. And you have the final word. So this is not over.”
– Maureen Groppe
Warren: Expand high court, elect those who’ll overturn filibuster
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., spoke out against what she called “extremists” that “cultivated far-right judges and spent billions in dark money” toward overturning Roe.
In a video, Warren called for Democrats to elect pro-abortion candidates who would overturn the filibuster in the Senate, which she called “a relic developed by racist politicians to defend Jim Crow.”
Warren also pushed for senators to expand the Supreme Court, an idea she said is “not new or radical.”
“The level of control that the Republican Party wants over individual Americans is undemocratic, and frankly, it is downright creepy,” Warren said.
– Katherine Swartz
Greene calls Supreme Court ruling an ‘answer to prayer’
Speaking to reporters outside the Capitol on Friday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called the Supreme Court’s ruling an “answer to prayer” and said “we’re going to protect life.”
– Katherine Swartz
Trump praises decision for ‘following the Constitution’
Former President Donald Trump, who nominated three members of the Supreme Court majority that struck down Roe v. Wade, praised the decision that ended the constitutional right to an abortion.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Trump said the decision reestablishes the rights of states to restrict or ban abortions.
“This brings everything back to the states where it has always belonged,” Trump said.
Trump also said the decision “is following the Constitution, and giving rights back when they should have been given long ago.”
As for supporters who favor abortion rights, Trump told FoxNews.com: “I think, in the end, this is something that will work out for everybody.”
– David Jackson
Mississippi governor applauds justices for courage, bravery
The fall of Roe v. Wade began in Mississippi at Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which challenged the state’s Gestational Age Law of 2018.
“I applaud the Supreme Court Justices for their courage in issuing this well-reasoned decision. It took bravery to stick to the courage of their convictions, especially amidst an unprecedented leak that was aimed at threatening the integrity of the Court, an assassination attempt, riot threats, and attacks on churches and pregnancy centers,” he said in a statement.
Echoing other Republican governors, he emphasized his state would continue to “build a culture that supports mothers and children” through financial and supportive services.
– Katherine Swartz, Wicker Perlis
Collins: Ruling ‘inconsistent’ with justices’ Senate testimony
Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine who cast a decisive vote in nominating the justices who gave the Supreme Court a conservative majority, said the Roe decision is “inconsistent” with what Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh said in their Senate confirmation hearings.
“They both were insistent on the importance of supporting long-standing precedents that the country has relied upon,” she said in a statement Friday.
“Throwing out a precedent overnight that the country has relied upon for half a century is not conservative,” she said. “It is a sudden and radical jolt to the country that will lead to political chaos, anger, and a further loss of confidence in our government.”
– Candy Woodall
Texas governor touts investment in abortion alternatives
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott applauded the Supreme Court’s decision and emphasized the millions of dollars he has allocated toward supporting “women’s health care and expectant mothers.”
Texas has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation, cutting off the procedure after a heartbeat is detected. That is typically in the sixth week of pregnancy, before many know they’re pregnant.
– Katherine Swartz
Schumer calls Supreme Court ‘extremist MAGA court’
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Friday’s ruling the result of electing Republican supporters of former President Donald Trump.
“Today is one of the darkest days our country has ever seen,” he said.
“Millions upon millions of American women are having their rights taken from them by five unelected justices on the extremist MAGA court,” Schumer added.
He said the decision makes “crystal clear the contrast as we approach the November elections.”
–