Roe vs Wade: Obamas to AOC, US Politicos Call Court Ruling an Attack on Freedom

Restrictions on abortions are expected in about half the states in the US, which are ruled by the Republican Party.

Restrictions on abortions are expected in about half the states in the country ruled by the Republican Party.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/Altered by The Quint)

Former US President Barak Obama condemned the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe vs Wade, a landmark case that constitutionally protected abortion rights for almost 50 years, and said that the decision was an attack on “essential freedoms of millions of Americans.”

Restrictions on abortions are expected in about half the states in the country ruled by the Republican Party.

The court majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito said that the 1973 Roe ruling and repeated subsequent high court decisions reaffirmed that Roe "must be overruled" because they were "egregiously wrong."

Referring to the 1992 Planned Parenthood vs Casey decision, which upheld the central holdings of Roe, Alito debated that the Casey opinion dismissed that very argument as "unrealistic," because it ignored for decades that "people have organised intimate relationships and made choices ... in reliance on the availability of abortion in the event that contraception should fail."

“Today, the Supreme Court not only reversed nearly 50 years of precedent, it relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues – attacking the essential freedoms of millions of Americans.”

Barack Obama, on Twitter.

He added, “Across the country, states have already passed bills restricting choice. If you’re looking for ways to respond, @PPFA, @USOWomen, and many other groups have been sounding the alarm on this issue for years – and will continue to be on the front lines of this fight.”

Retweeting his previous statements on the case, Obama added, “For more than a month, we’ve known this day was coming – but that doesn’t make it any less devastating.”

‘Sad Day for Court and the Country': US President Biden

Joe Biden, president of the United States, addressed the US citizens after the SC ruling and said the SC ruling has taken away the rights of the American women.

He said:

"Today, the Supreme Court took away the constitutional rights of American people. They simply took it away. It's a sad day for the court and for the country. 50 years ago, Roe vs Wade decided to be the law of the land since then. This landmark case protected the women’s right to choose, her right to make extremely intimate personal decisions.”

He added, “Now with Roe gone, it must be very clear that health and live of women in this nation are now at risk.”

“I believe Roe vs Wade was the correct decision, as a matter of fact, the constitutional law and application of the fundamental right of privacy and liberty, matters of the family and personal autonomy. It was a decision that brought national consensus,” said the US president.

‘We Will Not Go Back. Not Now. Not Ever’: Warren

Meanwhile, US Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a statement on Friday that the Supreme Court Justices have stripped away a woman’s constitutional rights to an abortion.

She said, “Six radical Supreme Court Justices have overturned nearly 50 years of precedent, stripping away the constitutional right to an abortion. After decades of scheming, Republican politicians have finally forced their unpopular agenda on the rest of America.”

She added, “They have decided that the government – not the person who is pregnant – should make a private health care decision and deny women the right to control their bodies and futures.”

However, she added that the “extremists” will not have the final word.

“Democrats have the tools to fight back, from legislation in Congress to executive orders from the President to initiatives at the state and local level – we just need to use them.”

Elizabeth Warren

“We are angry – angry and determined. We will not go back. Not now, not ever,” said Warren.

'This is What Our Grandmothers Went Through': Michelle Obama

Former first lady of the United States Michelle Obama said that she was "heartbroken" for people in the country, whom she believed had "lost the fundamental right to make informed decisions about their own bodies."

In a statement posted on Twitter, Obama said that she felt heartbroken for the women who may risk "losing their lives getting illegal abortions" or be forced to move ahead with pregnancies' they don't want.

She added that the horrifying decision must act as a wake-up call for younger generations, who would once again – just like their mothers and grandmothers – bear the consequence of the law which seeks to take control of their bodies.

'People Will Die Because of This Decision': AOC 

US Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) said that the decision to revoke abortion rights will never make abortions go away. It will only abortions more dangerous, especially for the poor and the marginalised, she said.

AOC tweeted, "Overturning Roe and outlawing abortions will never make them go away. It only makes them more dangerous, especially for the poor + marginalized. People will die because of this decision. And we will never stop until abortion rights are restored in the United States of America (sic)."

Addressing the House floor, Ocasio-Cortez, in a veiled response to gun laws, said that a party was claiming to protect the rights of children just a week after "children died in Texas."

In May this year, 19 children and two adults died in a shooting at a primary school in south Texas. It was was the deadliest attack on a school in the pages of American history.

Ocasio-Cortez further added that the decision "protects no one."

"Who does this protect? no one. Overturning Roe puts every singe one of us in danger."

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, US Democratic Rep.

'Today, Life Won': Ex-Vice Prez Mike Pence

However, former Vice President Mike Pence celebrated the ruling and said that the SC has “righted a historic wrong” and said that Americans should not relent “until the sanctity of life is restored”.

“Today, Life Won. By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court of the United States has given the American people a new beginning for life and I commend the Justices in the majority for having the courage of their convictions.”

Mike Pence, on Twitter

He added, “By returning the question of abortion to the states and the people, this Supreme Court has righted a historic wrong, and reaffirmed to right of the American people to govern themselves at the state level in a manner consistent with their values and aspirations.”

Adding “Now that Roe vs Wade has been consigned to the ash heap of history,” he said that those who cherish the sanctity of life must resolve to come to the defence of the unborn and support women in crisis pregnancies.

He tweeted, “Having been given this second chance for Life, we must not rest and must not relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the center of American law in every state in the land.”

'Decision Dangerous & Tragic'

‘Loss for Women Everywhere’: New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern issued a statement on Instagram, captioned 'Roe v Wade.'

She spoke about her country's recent legislation decriminalising abortion and "treat is as a health issue than criminal issue. That change was grounded in the fundamental belief that it's a woman's right to choose," her post read.

"People are absolutely entitled to have their deeply held convictions on this issue. But those personal beliefs should never rob another from making their own decisions. To see that principle now lost in the United States feels like a loss for women everywhere," she said.