Biden stops short of lauding Supreme Court abortion pill ruling, citing Roe
President Biden on Thursday stopped short of celebrating the Supreme Court ruling to preserve access to the abortion pill mifepristone, saying that the fight for reproductive freedom in the U.S. is an ongoing matter.
“Today’s decision does not change the fact that the fight for reproductive freedom continues. It does not change the fact that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago, and women lost a fundamental freedom. It does not change the fact that the right for a woman to get the treatment she needs is imperiled if not impossible in many states,” Biden said in a statement shorting after the opinion was issued.
The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in an unanimous decision that a group of anti-abortion doctors does not have any legal basis to challenge access to mifepristone. The opinion, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, sided with the Biden administration and the manufacturer of the branded version of mifepristone.
Biden, in his statement, said that while the ruling means medication abortion remains available and approved, attacks on mifepristone “are part of Republican elected officials’ extreme and dangerous agenda to ban abortion nationwide.”
He noted that 21 states have passed what he deemed as extreme abortion bans since Roe v. Wade was overturned two years ago and argued that contraception and IVF “are under attack.”
“The stakes could not be higher for women across America. Vice President Harris and I stand with the vast majority of Americans who support a woman’s right to make deeply personal health care decisions,” Biden said. “We will continue to fight to ensure that women in every state get the health care they need and we will continue to call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law — that is our commitment.”
Abortion has served as a key issue for Democrats since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, landing the blue party net wins in that year’s midterm elections.
Biden is currently in Italy attending the G7 summit, where he is scheduled to meet with Pope Francis on Friday.
The president has had to balance hot-button issues with his own 2024 re-election campaign, including the delicate issue of abortion as a Catholic, which the church opposes.