Former President Barack Obama has issued a statement responding to the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
On the morning of June 24, the Supreme Court issued an opinion that handed abortion laws back to the states.
Obama tweeted in response, "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." 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. pic.twitter.com/PpXBEcbL2S
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 24, 2022
"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," he continued. The tweet included a statement calling for people to "join with the activists who have been sounding the alarm on abortion access for years — and act."
Obama called on people to protest, volunteer with a pro-abortion organization, and vote for pro-abortion candidates in the midterms. For more than a month, we’ve known this day was coming—but that doesn’t make it any less devastating. Here are my thoughts from when we first saw the draft ruling: https://t.co/aegHc7AoTm
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 24, 2022
"For more than a month, we’ve known this day was coming—but that doesn’t make it any less devastating," he continued, with a link to his statement from when the leaked opinion was released."We’re asking you to join with the activists who’ve been sounding the alarm on this issue for years — and act. Stand with them at a local protest. Volunteer with them on a campaign. Join with them in urging Congress to codify Roe into law. And vote alongside them on or before November 8 and in every other election. Because in the end, if we want judges who will protect all, and not just some, of our rights, then we’ve got to elect officials committed to doing the same," Obama wrote.
On May 2, 2022, a draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked to Politico. In the opinion, he wrote that “it is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
The leak prompted a wave of protests, threats, and backlash against conservative justices, including the firebombing of pro-life pregnancy centers and a foiled assassination plot against Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The June 24 opinion was also written by Justice Samuel Alito.
Alito asserted that Roe was “egregiously wrong” and “on a collision course with the Constitution from the day it was decided.”
"Roe was egregiously wrong from the start," Justice Samuel Alito wrote. "Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division."
Justice Alito added that the Roe court “usurped the power to address a question of profound moral and social importance that the Constitution unequivocally leaves for the people.”
Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan filed a joint dissent.
“Whatever the exact scope of the coming laws, one result of today’s decision is certain: the curtailment of women’s rights, and of their status as free and equal citizens,” the dissenters wrote.
Laws related to abortion will now be returned to the states to decide.
