President Joe Biden attended an event on Friday with pro-abortion groups in Washington, marking the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, the seminal 1973 precedent that had largely legalized abortion in the United States.
Speaking at the event, Biden pledged to fight to restore Roe v. Wade’s protections and make them “once again the law of the land.”
“This fight really matters,” the president told supporters. “Since the day that Dobbs decision came down one year ago tomorrow, we’ve seen the devastating effects all across the country.”
He also warned that the Dobbs ruling has risked “the broader rights of privacy” for Americans.
At the event, three major pro-abortion organizations, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NARAL: Pro-Choice America, and EMILY’s List, announced their support for the Biden/Harris 2024 ticket.
The event, hosted at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, was one of several pro-abortion activities planned by the White House this week.
Biden stated that the Republicans did not receive the large red wave that they had hoped for in the 2020 midterms because of the Dobbs decision. He said he knew the American people wouldn’t let the court take away their basic rights.
Biden said that despite the will of the American people, MAGA Republicans have made clear that they don’t intend to stop with the Dobbs decision.
“Republicans in Congress have proposed three national abortion bans just this past year,” he noted, adding that he would veto any legislation that included such a ban.
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, upheld a Mississippi law that prohibits abortion beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy, overturning Roe v. Wade. The decision has restored the ability of the states to regulate abortion as they see fit.
Speaking at the event, Vice President Kamala Harris described the ruling as a direct assault on the hard-won rights and freedoms of Americans.
“We stand for the freedom of every American, including the freedom of every person everywhere to make decisions about their own body, their own health care, and their own doctors,” Harris told supporters.
First Lady Jill Biden, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi also delivered remarks at the pro-abortion event.
On the day of the anniversary, June 24, Harris will go to Charlotte, North Carolina, where she will deliver a speech on abortion. Her remarks will likely include criticism of the state’s new 12-week abortion ban, which became law last month after the Republican-controlled legislature overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto.
Executive Order
On Friday, Biden signed an executive order to protect and increase access to contraception.
“I know I’m 198 years old,” Biden joked at the event. “I never ever thought I’d be signing the executive order.”
“The court got Roe right 50 years ago, and I believe Congress should restore the protections of Roe v. Wade once and for all,” Biden added.
Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the majority opinion, explained in the court’s decision why the majority believed Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided 50 years ago.
“Abortion presents a profound moral issue on which Americans hold sharply conflicting views,” he wrote.
“Some believe fervently that a human person comes into being at conception and that abortion ends an innocent life. Others feel just as strongly that any regulation of abortion invades a woman’s right to control her own body and prevents women from achieving full equality.
“Still others in a third group think that abortion should be allowed under some but not all circumstances, and those within this group hold a variety of views about the particular restrictions that should be imposed.”
Dobbs Triggered State-level Responses
In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, some states have pushed for tighter abortion restrictions, while others have rushed to do the opposite, codifying additional protections for women seeking them.
According to an estimate, new laws in pro-life states have saved more than 60,000 babies across the country since Dobbs. However, the Washington Post reports that there is a growing black market for abortion pills, which is helping people in states that have strict rules to self-manage their own abortions.
In a recent statement, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he and his fellow Democrats would “fight like hell” to increase access to abortion and contraception nationwide.
“Nearly one year ago, the right-wing activist Supreme Court handed down the Dobbs decision and signaled to women across this country that their rights to privacy, to health care, and to their own autonomy could now be violated,” Schumer said. “MAGA Republicans have made it clear that they will not stop with their vicious anti-choice agenda until there is a nationwide abortion ban. This issue is too pressing to ignore.”
Conservatives, however, are celebrating the anniversary of the Dobbs decision. At a June 20 press conference held outside of the Capitol, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) estimated that around 200,000 babies had been born in the past year that likely would have been aborted if the Supreme Court’s decision had not been made.
“That’s 200,000 families that will be blessed with looking into the eyes of a child and saying that every single child is valuable,” Lankford said.
Samantha Flom and Matthew Vadum contributed to this report.
