Biden says he will protect ‘fundamental’ right to abortion after leaked Supreme Court draft appearing to overturn Roe v. Wade
- Biden said he’d seek to enshrine the protections of Roe v. Wade into US law, following a report the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark ruling
- Politico reported on Monday it obtained a draft majority opinion of justices that would strike down the 1973 ruling which protects a woman’s right to abortion
US President Joe Biden urged the election of more lawmakers who support abortion rights and said he’d seek to enshrine the protections of Roe v. Wade into US law, following a report that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark ruling.
“I believe that a woman’s right to choose is fundamental,” Biden said in a statement, adding that if the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalising abortion is overturned, elected officials will need to protect a woman’s right to choose and voters should elect abortion rights candidates in November.
However, if the document proves to be authentic, abortion laws will depend on individual states and “it will fall on voters to elect” officials who back the right to the procedure in November’s midterm elections, Biden said in a statement.
Biden also called on Congress to enshrine legal abortion in US law, which would be the only way of overcoming the Supreme Court ruling that the leaked document apparently shows is set to be issued.
Biden said he would “work to pass and sign into law” such legislation but acknowledged the reality that the conditions are not right with today’s evenly divided Senate between his Democrats and Republicans.
“At the federal level, we will need more pro-choice senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation” that codifies the existing guarantees apparently set to be removed by the Supreme Court.
With many US states already enacting or preparing highly restrictive abortion laws, Biden said he had ordered advisers to study “a variety of possible outcomes in the cases pending before the Supreme Court. We will be ready when any ruling is issued”.
Leak suggests US Supreme Court set to strike down abortion rights
Given that the court is controlled by its six conservatives, the prospect of rescinding abortion rights and returning the decision to the states would not come as a surprise.
But such a ruling, which is expected to be issued in the next two months, would deliver a cataclysmic shock to the American body politic and potentially spark a political backlash, further civil unrest and a deeper reordering of the lives of millions.
Politico reported on Monday night that it had obtained a draft majority opinion of the justices that would strike down the 1973 ruling, touching off demonstrations outside the Supreme Court.
Striking down Roe would reshape the battle between Democrats and Republicans for control of Congress in the November midterm elections, potentially energising both parties’ bases.
Codifying the protections of the Roe v. Wade decision into US statute would be one of the most difficult legislative battles of the modern era.
Democrats and the few Republicans who support abortion rights would likely need to hold at least 60 seats in the Senate to pass legislation securing abortion rights over a Republican filibuster.
A House-passed bill to codify Roe was blocked in February in the Senate on a 46-48 vote. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat who has obstructed much of President Joe Biden’s agenda, voted with Republicans to filibuster the bill.
And some key supporters of abortion rights – Democrat Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – have long opposed changing the 60-vote threshold for advancing such bills.
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A decision to overturn Roe could reverberate through the 2024 presidential campaign and magnify attention on gubernatorial and legislative races around the country, as it would give states more power to decide the legality of abortions.
The Democratic National Committee said reproductive rights will be on the ballot in November “and this midterm election is more important now than ever before”.
“Voters will make their voices heard, we will fight back with everything we have, and Republicans will have to answer for their party’s relentless attacks on Americans’ rights,” the committee said in a statement.
