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Former President Barack Obama slammed the Supreme Court’s decision overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that granted women the right to an abortion nearly 50 years ago.
“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,” Obama said in a statement.
“For more than a month, we’ve known this day was coming–but that doesn’t make it any less devastating,” he continued.
SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS ROE V. WADE: LIVE UPDATES
The Supreme Court’s ruling Friday overturned both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which affirmed the right to an abortion. The case concerned a Mississippi state law banning abortion after 15 weeks.
Pro-life activists celebrate outside the Supreme Court on Friday.
(AP Photo/Steve Helber)
The ruling confirmed a Politico report on May 2 that leaked a draft of the opinion. Following the report, Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, released a joint statement similarly criticizing the decision.
“Few, if any, women make the decision to terminate a pregnancy casually — and people of goodwill, across the political spectrum, can hold different views on the subject,” the former president and first lady said at the time.
Former President Barack Obama was critical of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
(AP Photo/John Locher)
“But what Roe recognized is that the freedom enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution requires all of us to enjoy a sphere of our lives that isn’t subject to meddling from the state — a sphere that includes personal decisions involving who we sleep with, who we marry, whether or not to use contraception, and whether or not to bear children,” they added.
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The Obamas’ statement said overturning Roe v. Wade would “be a blow not just to women, but to all of us who believe that in a free society.”
