(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden remains unmoved on the issue of court expansion, the White House said, despite his criticism of the Supreme Court rulings handed down this week on gun rights and abortion.
“That is something that the president does not agree with,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday when asked about such a reform. “That is not something that he wants to do.”
Democrats and activists are floating the idea after the high court expanded gun rights and did away with 50 years of precedent to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and others expressly called for expanding the court in the wake of the decision on abortion access.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said court expansion is “critical.”
“We need to balance out this court before they do more harm than what they’ve done thus far,” Adams said at a press conference on Friday, where he said he wouldn’t have become the city’s leader if his former partner didn’t get an abortion when they were in their teens.
Biden has never expressed great interest in expanding the high court, even when many of his opponents in the 2020 Democratic primary for president were supportive of the reform.
After he was elected, Biden appointed a 36-member bipartisan commission to study potential changes to the Supreme Court — including the addition of more seats, as well as term limits and a code of ethics for justices.
The commission unanimously adopted a report late last year, in which they warned that excessive change to the institution could cause democracy to regress in the future.
The panel found “considerable” support for 18-year term limits for justices, but the issue of expanding the court beyond nine seats was met with “profound disagreement.”
“There was a commission that was put together about how to potentially move forward with the court, reform the court,” Jean-Pierre said Saturday. “I don’t have anything more to share from any final decision that the president has made.”
Biden has issued forceful condemnations of both Supreme Court decisions.
He described being “deeply disappointed” in the June 23 ruling striking down a century-old New York law limiting concealed handguns in public, stating it “contradicts common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all.”
The Roe repeal, he said, was a “sad day” for the Supreme Court and the nation.
“Make no mistake: This decision is the culmination of a deliberate effort over decades to upset the balance of our law,” he said Friday in remarks delivered from the Cross Hall of the White House. “It’s a realization of an extreme ideology and a tragic error by the Supreme Court, in my view.”
In response, Biden said he was instructing federal agencies to protect nationwide access to federally approved medication like contraception, and employed the Department of Justice to ensure women can travel out-of-state for abortion services where the procedure is legal.
The president continued his criticism on Saturday, telling reporters that the Supreme Court “has made some terrible decisions.”
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in a much-anticipated ruling Friday in one of its biggest decisions this term.
The court voted 5-4, largely along party lines, to overturn Roe and 6-3, in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which involved Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
It appeared that the panel’s conservative majority of justices was ready to overturn nearly 50 years of established abortion rights after last month’s leaked draft decision indicated as much.
Jun 25, 1:01 pm
White House warns of ‘nightmare scenarios’ after Roe repeal
The White House on Saturday continued to criticize the overturning of Roe v. Wade, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre telling reporters the Supreme Court’s ruling is “out of step” with what a majority of Americans want.
“We are going to see some nightmare scenarios, sadly, because of this decision,” Jean-Pierre said on Air Force One on the way to the G7 summit in Germany.
Jean-Pierre touted the steps announced by the administration yesterday to protect access to federally approved medication like contraception and medication abortion and to ensure women can travel across state lines for reproductive health care.
But it’s ultimately up to Congress to fully restore Roe, she said.
“If that can’t happen, the American public has to use their voice,” Jean-Pierre said. “In light of this decision, they have to use their voice at the ballot box.”
Not on the table, she said, is court expansion: “That is something that the President does not agree with.”
Jun 25, 9:50 am
Advocacy group calls on DOD to support servicewomen, families as abortion bans begin to take effect
Advocacy group “Not in My Marine Corps,” started by former marine and Department of Defense civil servant Erin Kirk Cuomo, called on leaders to support servicewomen and families in areas where abortion bans have begun to take effect. The group has worked to raise awareness around sexual assault in the military.
The group is calling on leaders in the department and Virginia to:
Push for “compassionate reassignment” policies to let active duty women (and families) currently stationed in states with trigger laws appeal for reassignment
Guarantee service members in need of abortion will be able to cross state lines
Put an end to the Hyde Amendment so military bases can provide more abortion care.
“It’ll be interesting to see what DoD comes out within the next several days. We’ve known that this is going to be happening for months now. So they should have they should have been working on these policies,” Cuomo added.
Because of the Hyde Amendment, the department’s military medical program doesn’t regularly perform abortions, so service members would rely on providers in the state.
Earlier this month, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, introduced legislation that did not call for a full repeal of Hyde, but for a more tailored change in policy to allow military doctors on military bases provide abortion access for service members. There is a companion bill in the House.
“While states like New York will remain a safe haven for reproductive freedom, the reproductive rights of women serving at Fort Hood in Texas or other conservative states could be in jeopardy,” Gillibrand wrote, introducing the bill.
Jun 25, 9:27 am
Biden says administration will examine implementation of state abortion laws
President Joe Biden commented on states implementing abortion bans, vowing to act, the morning after the Supreme Court overturned federal abortion rights.
“The decision is implemented by states. My administration is going to focus on how they administer it, and whether or not they violate other laws, like deciding who is not allowed across state lines to get public health services. And we’re gonna take actions to protect women’s rights and reproductive health,” Biden vowed.
Asked if he thought the court is broken, Biden said, “I think the Supreme Court has made some terrible decisions.”
Jun 25, 8:51 am
Blinken vows to ensure reproductive care access to State Department employees
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the State Department will do everything in its power to ensure its employees have access to reproductive health services no matter where they live, vowing not to waver from this commitment.
Adding, “Under this Administration, the State Department will remain fully committed to helping provide access to reproductive health services and advancing reproductive rights around the world,” Blinken said in a statement.
Jun 25, 12:19 am
Truck runs over woman’s foot
A man in a truck hit two women Friday during a pro-abortion protest outside the U.S. District Court Federal Court House in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and injured one.
Video on social media showed a man in a truck striking protestors, ripping signs as he drove and then hit two women who were crossing the street and ran over the feet of one woman.
There have been nationwide protests in the fallout of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion.
The Cedar Rapids police department is conducting an investigation.
Jun 24, 9:10 pm
US Marshals declare federal judges, government officials ‘most at risk’
The U.S. Marshals Service told ABC News that federal judges and state government officials are “most at risk” following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“In light of the increased security concerns stemming from the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe V. Wade, the U.S. Marshals Service continues to assist the Marshal of the Supreme Court with the responsibility of protecting the United State Supreme Court and its facilities,” the statement read.
“While we do not comment on specific security measures, we continuously review the security measures in place and take appropriate steps to provide additional protection when it is warranted.”
Congress recently passed legislation that would increase security for the Supreme Court justices and their families.
Jun 24, 8:13 pm
Protesters gather nationwide
People in support of abortion rights gathered Friday after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which guaranteed a constitutional right for an abortion.
Protests occurred Friday at Federal Plaza in Chicago, Philadelphia’s City Hall, Washington Square Park in New York and downtown Boston. More rallies were being planned for Saturday in response to the ruling.
About two dozen protesters also gathered outside the private community residence where Justice Clarence Thomas lives in Fairfax, Virginia, with some carrying signs that read “you will never control my body.”
Jun 24, 7:07 pm
Planned Parenthood doctor describes moments after ruling
Dr. Colleen McNicholas, the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis region, oversees a clinic in Missouri, which has been immediately shut down by a trigger law, and a clinic in Illinois, which will stay open for the foreseeable future.
Already, she has seen the impacts of a clinic that gets shut down — and the massive demand for one that’s still open.
“Within minutes of the decision, our attorney general invoked that trigger ban, and we had to stop providing abortion care,” she said of the Missouri clinic.
And in Illinois, she said, “Within minutes, again, we were receiving calls from clinics and other trigger-banned states to say, ‘I have patients on the schedule tomorrow. How many can you accommodate in the coming days?'”
Jun 24, 6:55 pm
Sports figures speak out against ruling
Soccer star Megan Rapinoe took several minutes during a media appearance ahead of Saturday’s match between the U.S. and Colombia to talk about the Supreme Court ruling on Friday.
“Obviously you can understand from an individual perspective how difficult it is to live in a country where you have a constant, unrelenting, violent tide against you and onslaught as a woman,” she said. “And it would be as a gay person and as a non-binary person, as a trans person — whoever this is going to affect, because it affects a lot more than just women or cis-women. It really does affect us all.”
She went on to say the ruling will “disproportionately affect poor women, Black women, brown women, immigrants, women in abusive relationships, women who have been raped, women and girls who have been raped by family members,” as well as those who “maybe just didn’t make the best choice.”
Rapinoe additionally called on men to speak up about the ruling, saying that is “what, frankly, doing the right thing looks like.”
Meanwhile, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert spoke out in support of abortion rights.
“The NBA and WNBA believe that women should be able to make their own decisions concerning their health and future, and we believe that freedom should be protected,” they said in a joint statement. “We will continue to advocate for gender and health equity, including ensuring our employees have access to reproductive health care, regardless of their location.”
Jun 24, 6:03 pm
US surgeon general says ‘health of women and pregnant people is put at risk’
“Today’s decision is a major step backward for public health,” U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said in a statement Friday. “Reproductive health decisions – like all health decisions – should be made by patients and their health care providers.”
Murthy said that with restricted access to reproductive health care, there will be more unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions.
“Ultimately, the health of women and pregnant people is put at risk – an effect that will be felt disproportionately in historically marginalized populations, including communities of color, low-income Americans, and rural residents,” he continued.
Murthy said health care providers will be further strained in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and “forced into an impossible choice between doing what’s right for their patients and complying with laws that are at odds with their patient’s health interests.”
The surgeon general said he will continue to support “women’s right to make their own decisions about their health.”
Jun 24, 5:04 pm
House Democrats look for abortion ruling to galvanize support in midterms
Following Friday’s Supreme Court decision, Democratic lawmakers have their eyes set on November, hoping the issue of abortion will galvanize widespread support.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., said reproductive rights will be on the ballot in November, but also acknowledged Democrats are going to have to focus on issues like the economy to win support.
“It’s not an either-or. We should be talking about the economy. We should be talking about our plan to lower costs for families,” Maloney said. “We have a plan, but [Republican] priority is going to be to ban abortion in all 50 states and and that’s the choice voters going to get to make.”
Maloney also said Republicans are fixated on banning abortion nationwide, and come election season, they will have to answer to voters.
“Every Republican should answer whether they will criminalize abortion in all 50 states because the Supreme Court said the Constitution doesn’t stand in their way. And we know that that is their priority. And those are the wrong priorities,” he added.
Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who is currently in a hotly contested Senate battle against JD Vance, said he didn’t know if abortion would be a top issue for voters but said the Supreme Court decision could galvanize a movement.
“Largest governmental overreach in the history of our lifetime right here,” Ryan said. “And I think Americans are gonna wholly reject that. And while it may not be the top issue, it will be for a lot. And I think it will be a secondary issue for a lot of other people.”
Jun 24, 4:08 pm
Kamala Harris condemns court, says ‘this is not over’
Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, calling it the first time in history that a constitutional right was taken away from Americans. Harris said the decision takes away the right to privacy.
“For nearly 50 years we have talked about what Roe v. Wade protects. Today, as of right now, as of this minute, we can only talk about what Roe v. Wade protected. Past tense. This is a health care crisis,” Harris said while delivering remarks in Plainfield, Illinois.
Harris said the expansion of freedom is not inevitable, encouraging Americans to vote in this year’s midterm elections, saying “this is not over.”
“Millions of women in America will go to bed tonight without access to the health care and reproductive care that they had this morning — without access to the same health care or reproductive health care that their mothers and grandmothers had for 50 years,” Harris said.
Jun 24, 3:44 pm
White House holds call to rally advocates after ruling
Senior White House officials held a Zoom meeting Friday afternoon seeking to rally abortion rights organizers, advocates and other leaders regarding what one official called the Supreme Court’s “devastating” decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
While the officials didn’t announce anything new in terms of actions the Biden administration may take, they pledged to work with the advocates to ensure women’s reproductive rights across the country.
“Although we’re here on a devastating day, I think, you know, I think we will all meet the moment,” Emmy Ruiz, the White House’s director of political strategy and outreach, said.
The officials drew attention to Attorney General Merrick Garland vowing to protect women’s ability to travel to other states for reproductive health care and to President Joe Biden directing the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure access to abortion medications.
“We are in this together,” White House counsel Dana Remus said. “We have a long road ahead. Lots of work to do, but I am optimistic that together we can make progress.”
Jun 24, 3:03 pm
Leading health care providers expect ripple effects from SCOTUS decision
Leading health care providers in reproductive and women’s health condemned the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, warning that it affects patient safety and infringes on patient privacy.
The American Society for Training and Development released a statement that the decision “removes an essential civil liberty.”
“Decisions about healthcare, particularly reproductive healthcare, should be made by patients and physicians, not by interest groups, religious organizations, politicians, pundits, or Supreme Court Justices,” said Dr. Marcelle Cedars, the president of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, a leader in reproductive medicine research.
The American Academy of Family Physicians said that the decision endangers the patient-physician relationship and potentially “criminalizes evidence-based medical care.”
“Allowing each state to pass their own laws regarding access to reproductive health care, including abortion services and contraception, exacerbates inequities in the health care system,” said Dr. Sterling Ransone, the president of the AAFP.
Also, the nation’s largest union of nurses spoke out and called the policy “immoral, discriminatory, misogynist, violent [and] unacceptable,” according to the statement released by National Nurses United.
The American Academy of Pediatrics said the consequences of the decision are “grave” for adolescent patients.
In addition, the largest medical speciality organization in the United States, the American College of Physicians, called the decision a “major setback” that erodes “the constitutional right to privacy.”
“We strongly oppose medically unnecessary government restrictions on any health care services,” said Dr. Ryan Mire, the president of ACP.
-Eric M. Strauss
Jun 24, 2:44 pm
West Virginia’s only abortion clinic says it’s stopping procedures immediately
The only abortion clinic in West Virginia announced it is no longer performing abortions as of Friday after the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade.
In a statement on Facebook, the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia said it is not performing the procedure anymore due to “criminal code from 1882 that criminalizes abortion for both the provider and patient with a felony prison sentence up [to] 10 years.”
Abortion is still legal in West Virginia but a state constitutional amendment bars the protection of the right to an abortion. It’s unclear if the 1882 law immediately goes into effect now that Roe has been overturned.
However, the clinic vowed that it “will not stop fighting for the abortion rights of every West Virginian.”
It comes after Gov. Jim Justice praised the court’s decision and said he would call a special session if a consultation with the Legislature determined clarification in the state’s laws is needed.
Jun 24, 1:40 pm
McCarthy says Republicans to propose anti-abortion legislation if they retake the House
House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Republicans would put anti-abortion legislation on the House floor next year if they retake the chamber in this year’s midterm elections.
“We now have a voice for all life,” McCarthy said during a press conference with House Republicans Friday.
Asked what he would say to Attorney General Merrick Garland if he didn’t prosecute people who do not follow their state’s abortion laws, McCarthy said, “In less than 140 days things are gonna change here.”
“He will have now a Congress that will call him up. He will now have the ability of the Congress to have oversight. He will now have a Congress that will hold him accountable,” McCarthy said.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., also plans to introduce a 15-week abortion ban in the coming weeks.
Jun 24, 1:28 pm
Trump applauds Supreme Court decision
Former President Donald Trump applauded the Supreme Court’s ruling in a statement, calling it “the biggest WIN for LIFE in a generation.”
Additionally, in an exclusive interview with Fox News, the former president praised “giving everything back to the states, where it has always belonged.”
“This is following the Constitution, and giving rights back when they should have been given long ago,” Trump told Fox News.
In response to any of his supporters who advocate for abortion rights, Trump told Fox News that “this is something that will work out for everybody.”
During his presidency, Trump appointed three conservative justices to the Supreme Court. He noted in his statement the ruling was “only made possible because I delivered everything as promised.”
When asked by Fox News whether he feels like he made a difference in the decision to overturn Roe, he said, “God made the decision.”
Jun 24, 1:25 pm
President Biden says court decision is ‘sad day’ for the US
President Joe Biden criticized the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade Friday.
“It’s a sad day for the court and the country. Today the Supreme Court of the United States expressly took away a constitutional right from the American people that it had already recognized,” Biden said in delivered remarks from the White House.
He added, “They didn’t limit it, they simply took it away. That’s never been done to a right so important to so many Americans but they did it.”
-ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler
Jun 24, 1:12 pm
Sen. Susan Collins says court decision is inconsistent with justices’ testimony
Republican Sen. Susan Collins condemned the court decision, saying Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch’s votes did not align with their testimony during their confirmation hearings.
“This decision is inconsistent with what Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh said in their testimony and their meetings with me, where they both were insistent on the importance of supporting long-standing precedents that the country has relied upon,” Collins said.
Collins voted for Kavanaugh and Gorsuch to serve on the court, for which she faced criticism because of concerns about how their appointments might impact a women’s right to choose.
Collins is one of two GOP Senators who is on the records supporting efforts to codify a woman’s right to choose.
“The Supreme Court has abandoned a fifty-year precedent at a time that the country is desperate for stability. This ill-considered action will further divide the country at a moment when, more than ever in modern times, we need the Court to show both consistency and restraint,” Collins said.
Adding, “Throwing out a precedent overnight that the country has relied upon for half a century is not conservative. It is a sudden and radical jolt to the country that will lead to political chaos, anger, and a further loss of confidence in our government.”
Jun 24, 1:11 pm
Governors respond to SCOTUS decision
Democratic and Republican governors across the U.S. responded to the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, railed against the ruling but vowed that abortion access is still protected in the state.
“Today, the Supreme Court took away the right of millions of Americans to make decisions about their own bodies,” she said in a statement. “This decision is a grave injustice. I want everyone to know that abortion remains safe, accessible, and legal in New York.”
In neighboring New Jersey, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy referred to the decision as “backwards” and “appalling.”
“In New Jersey, women will always have full autonomy over their own bodies and the right to make their own medical decisions,” he said in a statement.
Michigan Gov, Gretchen Whitmer, also a Democrat, reflected those sentiments,
adding, “I want every Michigander to know that I am more determined than ever to protect access to safe, legal abortion. I’ll never stop fighting.”
Meanwhile, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said the Supreme Court made the correct decision in overruling the 1973 decision.
“The Supreme Court correctly overturns Roe v. Wade & reinstates the right of states to protect innocent, unborn children,” he said in a statement. “Texas is a pro-life state. We will ALWAYS fight to save every child from the ravages of abortion.”
Similarly, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, also a Republican, said in a statement, “The Supreme Court of the United States has rightfully returned power to the people and their elected representatives in the states. I’m proud to be a pro-life Governor and plan to take every action I can to protect life.”
Jun 24, 1:02 pm
Tensions run high outside Mississippi abortion clinic at center of court case after ruling
Clinic workers and anti-abortion rights activists shouted at each other and grew more angry outside the Mississippi abortion clinic at the center of the Supreme Court case.
One clinic worker was seen going inside because she was so emotional. The worker was in tears as she tried to hold up a sign that said they were open. Hand-drawn signs were brought out of the clinic because anti-abortion rights activists were turning women away, telling them abortions were now illegal in the state.
Women and couples stopped their cars at the intersection because they were confused as clinic workers hastily tried to tell them they were open, but likely not for long.
A pro-abortion protester outside the clinic told ABC News the decision means they are looking at suffering and death.
“We see what’s coming. We know exactly what’s going on here. Welcome to the vulture pit. Women without needs will suffer. We’ve been answering these for years but here we are. America’s not ready for what’s about to happen with the fall of Rome,” one unnamed protestor said.
An anti-abortion protester celebrated the decision, calling it “bittersweet.”
“Certainly we’re thankful that Roe has been overturned, but our hearts still break over the millions of unborn children … aborted in this country and it’s just gonna be a struggle going to states that still allow abortion and hopefully they’ll close this clinic down as quickly as possible and we’ll move on and help other places.”
-ABC News’ Cherise Rudy and Stephanie Ramos
Jun 24, 12:49 pm
Abortion provider says it’s deploying a fleet of mobile clinics along border states
Just The Pill, a nonprofit abortion group, announced a program called Abortion Delivered and vowed to deploy a fleet of mobile clinics to offer “mobile procedural abortions” along the border of states that impose restrictions.
“By operating on state borders, we will reduce travel burdens for patients in states with bans or severe limits,” said Dr. Julie Amaon, the medical director of Just The Pill and Abortion Delivered, in a statement.
Abortion law and restrictions vary by state. Some states have trigger laws in place that immediately ban abortion once the federal protection of Roe was overturned.
While state rules can differ, FDA regulations say women can be prescribed medical abortion pills by a certified provider at up to 10 weeks of pregnancy and take them at home.
“We are undaunted. We will bring care to the people who most need it, and we will defy reproductive repression by providing more affordable and accessible care,” said Amaon.
Jun 24, 12:46 pm
JPMorgan Chase to cover employee travel for abortion
JPMorgan Chase, one of the nation’s largest banks, has informed U.S. employees that it will cover the costs of travel for those seeking an abortion who cannot access the procedure legally in their home state, according to a memo sent to employees on June 1 and obtained by ABC News.
The company will begin covering the travel next month, according to a company web page that details the policy.
Several corporations in recent weeks, including Amazon and Starbucks, have announced expanded health benefits to pay for travel fees incurred by workers seeking an abortion if the procedure is unavailable near where they live.
Yelp, Tesla, Citigroup, Apple and Salesforce have also expanded abortion coverage in recent weeks for employees to include costs for travel when necessary.
The JPMorgan Chase memo was first reported by CNBC.
Jun 24, 12:39 pm
AG Merrick Garland says DOJ ‘strongly disagrees’ with ruling, will protect rights
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Department of Justice “strong disagrees” with the Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday, and added his department “will work tirelessly to protect and advance reproductive freedom.”
He outlined several steps the department will take in furthering that goal, including protecting access to health care in states where abortion remains legal, supporting Congress’ efforts “to codify Americans’ reproductive rights” and work to protect access to mifepristone, the so-called abortion pill.
“The Supreme Court has eliminated an established right that has been an essential component of women’s liberty for half a century — a right that has safeguarded women’s ability to participate fully and equally in society,” Garland wrote in a statement.
Garland was nominated to the Supreme Court by former President Barack Obama in 2016 to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat but never received a vote because Republicans refused to take it up.
-ABC News’ Alex Mallin
Jun 24, 12:18 pm
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists condemns ruling
Dr. Iffath A. Hoskins, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Supreme Court decision is “a direct blow to bodily autonomy, reproductive health, patient safety and health equity in the United States.”
“The restrictions put forth are not based on science nor medicine; they allow unrelated third parties to make decisions that rightfully and ethically should be made only by individuals and their physicians,” Hoskins said.
She said the decision will disproportionately impact people already facing barriers to health care and that laws will make people face possible risks of pregnancy, including “the morbidity and mortality associated with childbirth.”
“The principle of shared decision-making is founded on respect for peoples’ expertise in their own bodies and lives and clinicians’ expertise in science and medicine,” Hoskins said. “There is no room within the sanctuary of the patient-physician relationship for individual lawmakers who wish to impose their personal religious or ideological views on others.”
Jun 24, 12:16 pm
NAACP says SCOTUS decision will ‘disproportionately impact Black women and lower-income communities of color’
Following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, leaders from racial justice groups are expressing outrage.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision marks a significant regression of our country. As a legal professional, I am astounded by this decision. As a Black woman, I am outraged,” said Janette McCarthy Wallace, general counsel for the NAACP, in part of a statement.
“There is no denying the fact that this is a direct attack on all women and Black women stand to be disproportionately impacted by the court’s egregious assault on basic human rights,” she said.
Portia White, the policy and legislative affairs vice president for the NAACP, encouraged Americans to “fight back” by voting.
“If you’re not registered to vote, or know someone who isn’t, now is the moment. This is no time for anyone to sit on the sidelines,” White wrote in part of a statement.
Jun 24, 12:04 pm
NARAL Pro-Choice America condemns court decision, calling it ‘worst-case scenario’
Mini Timmaraju, president of pro-abortion group NARAL, called the court’s decision “the worst-case scenario” and warned the anti-abortion movement and its political allies want to enact a nationwide ban on abortion.
“The impact on the real lives of real people will be devastating. The Supreme Court has given the green light to extremist state lawmakers who will waste no time springing into action to put in place total bans on abortion,” Timmaraju said in a statement.
“But it is not the end of this fight. The 8 in 10 Americans who support the legal right to abortion will not let this stand. There is an election in November, and extremist politicians will learn: when you come for our rights, we come for your seats,” Timmaraju said.
Jun 24, 12:04 pm
Capitol Police says demonstrators can protest near SCOTUS
Capitol Police said in a tweet Friday that demonstrators can protest near the Supreme Court but must listen to police instruction.
“Demonstrators are gathering on Capitol Grounds, near the U.S. Supreme Court.” the tweet read.
“Protesters are allowed to peacefully demonstrate, however they must follow the officer’s instructions so that everyone stays safe.”
Jun 24, 11:45 am
Mississippi’s only abortion clinic will be forced to close after court overturns Roe
Now that the Supreme Court has overruled Roe v. Wade, Mississippi’s only abortion clinic, the clinic at the center of the court decision, will be forced to close.
The court’s decision will uphold Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks, but the clinic will be forced to close in coming weeks when Mississippi’s trigger law takes effect, banning abortions entirely.
Women in nearby states, especially in Texas, had traveled to Jackson seeking care, with 30 to 40% of patients being from out of state.
Shannon Brewer, director of that state’s only abortion clinic still open, told ABC News ahead of the ruling that she sees a potentially more dangerous time for women, especially lower-income, minority women, grappling with unwanted or unintended pregnancies.
“No law, no court decision will stop abortion in Mississipi or anywhere. A woman who is desperate enough will try anything,” she said.
The clinic performs about 2,500 abortions a year, only up to 16 weeks into pregnancy.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Jun 24, 11:33 am
President Biden to speak at 12:30 p.m.
President Joe Biden will speak on the abortion ruling at 12:30 p.m., according to the White House.
Following the release of the draft opinion in May, Biden called abortion a “fundamental” right.
“Roe has been the law of the land for almost fifty years, and basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that it not be overturned,” Biden said in a statement at the time.
Jun 24, 11:14 am
Planned Parenthood warns all ‘freedoms are on the line’
Planned Parenthood warned Friday that the Supreme Court overturning the right to abortion is just the beginning, warning there is a threat to Americans’ rights.
“Make no mistake – if they can take away the right to abortion, a right we’ve held for nearly 50 years, they won’t stop here: All of our freedoms are on the line,” Planned Parenthood said.
The group said the court’s decision to overturn abortion rights will impact women in marginalized communities.
“Due to centuries of racism and systemic discrimination, we already know who will feel the consequences of this horrific decision most acutely: Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities, people with disabilities, those living in rural areas, young people, immigrants, and those having difficulties making ends meet,” Planned Parenthood said.
Jun 24, 11:13 am
Abortion rights groups blast ‘infuriating’ court decision
Abortion rights groups responded to the Supreme Court decision Friday overturning Roe v. Wade.
“Today, the Supreme Court eviscerated the last shreds of our national right to abortion and blatantly turned its back on our dignity,” said Morgan Hopkins, interim executive director for campaigns and strategies at All* Above All, in a statement.
She added, “The ripple effects will be felt far and wide, in every state across the country. And to be clear — today’s decision is the result of a decades-long scheme to dismantle access to abortion care.”
Dr. Ushma Upadhyay, associate professor of Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, said the decision “will fall hardest on women of color and low-income people, who already experience extreme health disparities under a racist health care system.”
Debasri Ghosh, the managing Director at the National Network of Abortion Funds, said the decision was expected but nonetheless “infuriating.”
“The harm of abortion restrictions will now fall even harder on Black, Indigenous and people of color, people already excluded from our health care by systemic racism and economic injustice,” she added.
Jun 24, 11:10 am
Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton react to decision
Former first ladies Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton reacted to the Supreme Court decision, both condemning it.
Obama, in her statement, said repeatedly that she is “heartbroken,” including “for people around this country who just lost the fundamental right to make informed decisions about their own bodies.”
Clinton, who also served as secretary of state, said, “Today’s Supreme Court opinion will live in infamy as a step backward for women’s rights and human rights.”
“This horrifying decision will have devastating consequences,” Obama wrote in her full statement.
Jun 24, 11:02 am
March for Life says court decision is just the beginning of work to ‘protect life’
Anti-abortion group March for Life praised the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, overturning federal protections for abortion.
“Today, the ability to determine whether and when to limit abortion was returned to the American people who have every right to enact laws like Mississippi’s which protect mothers and unborn babies after 15 weeks,” March for Life said in a statement.
The group called Roe v. Wade an “unpopular and extreme” abortion policy that had been imposed on the U.S. Polling shows 58% of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
“We are so grateful to the countless pro-life people of goodwill who contributed and sacrificed to make today possible – including the millions of those who have marched for life over the years – and we recognize that this is just the beginning of our work to advance policies that protect life. We will continue to march until abortion is unthinkable because equality begins in the womb,” March for Life said.
Jun 24, 10:55 am
Pelosi condemns Trump, Republicans in response
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned Republicans in response to the Supreme Court decision, saying in a statement, “Because of Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, the Republican Party and their supermajority on the Supreme Court, American women today have less freedom than their mothers.”
Pelosi further said there would be more restrictions on reproductive health care, claiming, “Republicans want to arrest doctors for offering reproductive care and women for terminating a pregnancy. GOP extremists are even threatening to criminalize contraception, as well as in-vitro fertilization and post-miscarriage care.”
She called the ruling “outrageous and heart-wrenching.”
Jun 24, 10:54 am
Schumer calls today ‘one of darkest days our country has ever seen’
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a statement following the Dobbs decision, called Friday one of the “darkest days our country has ever seen” and directly blamed “MAGA Republicans” for the decision.
“These justices were intentionally appointed by Republicans to overturn Roe v. Wade and every Republican Senator knew this would happen if they voted to confirm these radical justices,” Schumer said in a statement. “These MAGA Republicans are all complicit in today’s decision and all of its consequences for women and families in this country.”
He pointed to the upcoming midterm elections and called on voters to support Democratic causes.
“Today’s decision makes crystal clear the contrast as we approach the November elections: elect more MAGA Republicans if you want nationwide abortion bans, the jailing of women and doctors and no exemptions for rape or incest. Or, elect more pro-choice Democrats to save Roe and protect a woman’s right to make their own decisions about their body, not politicians.”
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Jun 24, 10:46 am
Former VP Pence praises SCOTUS decision
Former Vice President Mike Pence praised the SCOTUS decision Friday overturning Roe v. Wade.
“Today, Life Won,” Pence said in a statement. “By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court of the United States has given the American people a new beginning for life, and I commend the justices in the majority for having the courage of their convictions.”
Pence said the 6-3 decision, which overturned 50 years of precedent, “righted a historic wrong.”
He continued, “Having been given this second chance for Life, we must not rest and must not relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the center of American law in every state in the land.”
The former vice president has been a proponent of anti-abortion laws for years and has called numerous times on the court to overturn the decision.
Anti-abortion group March for Life praised the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, overturning federal protections for abortion.
“Today, the ability to determine whether and when to limit abortion was returned to the American people who have every right to enact laws like Mississippi’s which protect mothers and unborn babies after 15 weeks,” March for Life said in a statement.
The group called Roe v. Wade an “unpopular and extreme” abortion policy that had been imposed on the U.S. Polling shows 58% of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
“We are so grateful to the countless pro-life people of goodwill who contributed and sacrificed to make today possible – including the millions of those who have marched for life over the years – and we recognize that this is just the beginning of our work to advance policies that protect life. We will continue to march until abortion is unthinkable because equality begins in the womb,” March for Life said.
Jun 24, 10:54 am
Schumer calls today ‘one of darkest days our country has ever seen’
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a statement following the Dobbs decision, called Friday one of the “darkest days our country has ever seen” and directly blamed “MAGA Republicans” for the decision.
“These justices were intentionally appointed by Republicans to overturn Roe v. Wade and every Republican Senator knew this would happen if they voted to confirm these radical justices,” Schumer said in a statement. “These MAGA Republicans are all complicit in today’s decision and all of its consequences for women and families in this country.”
He pointed to the upcoming midterm elections and called on voters to support Democratic causes.
“Today’s decision makes crystal clear the contrast as we approach the November elections: elect more MAGA Republicans if you want nationwide abortion bans, the jailing of women and doctors and no exemptions for rape or incest. Or, elect more pro-choice Democrats to save Roe and protect a woman’s right to make their own decisions about their body, not politicians.”
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Jun 24, 10:46 am
Former VP Pence praises SCOTUS decision
Former Vice President Mike Pence praised the SCOTUS decision Friday overturning Roe v. Wade.
“Today, Life Won,” Pence said in a statement. “By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court of the United States has given the American people a new beginning for life, and I commend the justices in the majority for having the courage of their convictions.”
Pence said the 6-3 decision, which overturned 50 years of precedent, “righted a historic wrong.”
He continued, “Having been given this second chance for Life, we must not rest and must not relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the center of American law in every state in the land.”
The former vice president has been a proponent of anti-abortion laws for years and has called numerous times on the court to overturn the decision.
Jun 24, 10:45 am
Barack Obama calls decision ‘devastating’
Former President Barack Obama responded to the Supreme Court decision, saying although this opinion was expected, “that doesn’t make it any less devastating.”
“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,” he wrote in a statement.
The former president further called on people to support groups like Planned Parenthood and United State of Women that “have been sounding the alarm on this issue for years—and will continue to be on the front lines of this fight.”
Jun 24, 10:44 am
Anti-abortion groups call court ruling historic victory
Anti-abortion groups praised the Supreme Court decision to overturn federal abortion rights on Friday.
“Today marks an historic human rights victory for unborn children and their mothers and a bright pro-life future for our nation,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America, in a statement.
“Every legislature in the land, in every single state and Congress, is now free to allow the will of the people to make its way into the law through our elected representatives,” Dannenfelser added.
Students for Life, another pro-abortion group, also called the ruling a “win,” saying, “Roe v. Wade has been a cancer growing in our Constitution resulting in more than 63 million deaths. Today, the court has cut it out.”
“The injustice of Roe has finally come to an end, and the momentum to protect life in law is finally on the side of innocent preborn children and their mothers who deserve our help,” said Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins.
Jun 24, 10:36 am
House minority leader applauds abortion decision
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, along with Republican Whip Rep. Steve Scalise and GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, immediately lauded the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.
“Every unborn child is precious, extraordinary, and worthy of protection,” the trio of GOP leaders wrote in a statement minutes after the decision was announced. “We applaud this historic ruling, which will save countless innocent lives.
“The Supreme Court is right to return the power to protect the unborn to the people’s elected representatives in Congress and the states. In the days and weeks following this decision, we must work to continue to reject extreme policies that seek to allow late-term abortions and taxpayer dollars to fund these elective procedures.”
McCarthy added “more work remains” to protect the most vulnerable among us.
Jun 24, 10:26 am
Supreme Court overturns Roe, leaves abortion decisions up to states
The Supreme Court struck down 50 years of precedent on Friday, striking down abortion rights at the federal level.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion. “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely—the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
(CHICAGO) — One person is dead and two were inujured after a shooting at a WeatherTech warehouse in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook early Saturday morning, ABC Chicago station, WLS reported.
Officers were dispatched to 1 Weathertech Way at 6:25 a.m. Saturday in response to reports of a subject shot, Bolingbrook police said in an online statement.
The suspect was located and taken into custody Saturday at approximately 9:25 a.m., police said.
According to police, in addition to the one victim dead, another is in critical condition and one has been released from the hospital.
The incident is still under investigation, authorities said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(CHEYENNE, Wyo.) — For Wyoming, a Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade means an automatic ban on abortion as the state is one of 13 that have enacted “trigger bans” on abortions. But even as Roe stood, the state sat in a so-called “abortion desert” where access to pregnancy termination was few and far between.
In a ruling Friday, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that protected the constitutional right to abortion nationally. Now, it will be up to the state legislatures to decide on abortion rights.
In Wyoming, even anticipating this possibility, advocates for abortion rights fought to gain access to abortion care for patients in the state — and questioned how a historically libertarian state became so restrictive.
Wyoming law tightens
In March, Gov. Mark Gordon signed a bill passed by both the Wyoming House and Senate. The bill, HB0092, would ban abortion in all circumstances except rape, incest or if the mother is in serious risk of death or injury, if the protections of Roe are overturned. It would also prohibit the use of government funding towards an abortion.
Following a Supreme Court ruling, the law could become active in about a month.
The governor’s office told ABC News that Gordon will adhere to the process outlined in the bill and has no additional comment regarding his choice to sign the legislation.
On Friday, Gordon tweeted a statement in support of the Supreme Court’s ruling, calling it “a decisive win for those who have fought for the rights of the unborn for the past 50 years.”
Republican state Rep. Patrick Sweeney, who voted against the trigger law, said in a press call Friday that it was difficult for the House to get the rape and incest clause included in the Senate’s bill, and he worries that clause could be removed in the legislation’s next session.
Sharon Breitweiser, executive director of Pro-Choice Wyoming, told ABC News before the Supreme Court’s decision that this ban could become reality “sooner than we had ever thought possible.”
She said in prior legislative cycles, the organization was always able to find “compassionate, realistic” elected officials who would be able to hold such anti-abortion laws from reaching the governor’s desk.
Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming tweeted Friday in support of the court’s decision to overturn Roe.
“The Supreme Court today ruled to return power back to states to legislate in a way that reflects the will of their voters. With today’s decision, the U.S. will no longer have the same anti-life laws as countries like communist China & North Korea,” he wrote.
Brent Blue, who provided abortions in Wyoming for decades, said the new state ban is hypocritical to Wyoming political tradition.
“It’s sexist, it’s racist and it’s anti-Wyoming,” said Blue, who spoke with ABC News before the Supreme Court’s decision. “It’s the government interfering with the lives of individuals, when the Republican party in the state has dedicated itself for decades to getting the government out of the lives of individuals.”
Blue said that the new legislation has no accountability because there is no medical or financial assistance offered to children who are born to parents without resources, saying “the hypocrisy is overwhelming.”
“To try to limit access is really promoting poverty and is really racist… it’s going to affect poor women and women of color, and the true irony and crime involved is that the same people voting for this are voting against Medicaid expansion for parents who have no resources,” Blue added.
The push to open a second clinic
Currently, Wyoming has one health care center that offers abortions, the Women’s Health & Family Care in Jackson, which has the phrase “management of unplanned pregnancy,” on their website’s gynecology page. The center’s pregnancy termination services are limited to medication abortions, which can be administered only up to 10 weeks’ gestation.
However, Wellspring Health Access, a national abortion rights organization, is in the midst of building a full-service abortion clinic in Casper.
Wellspring Health Access has been working to establish the clinic for almost two years, its founder and president Julie Burkhart told ABC News. But just as the clinic was reaching its opening date, an arson attack on May 25 pushed back the clinic’s opening by several weeks.
Even before the arson attack, the clinic has become home to regular protests by anti-abortion rights groups, according to Burkhart.
Now, with the Supreme Court decision, Wellspring may never be able to provide abortions in their Wyoming clinic. Burkhart said in a Friday statement the ruling will impact those “who already face the greatest barriers to access” including “people living in rural communities, the Native population and people with low incomes.”
Burkhart told ABC News before the decision that Wyoming residents sought out the organization to establish a clinic in their state. The clinic was strategically placed in central Wyoming to reach not only Wyoming patients, but also those who live in restrictive nearby states such as Nebraska, South Dakota and Montana.
Before the May ban was introduced, Wyoming law had moderate restrictions on abortions, allowing abortions to occur until the fetus was viable, around 24 weeks, following the framework of Roe.
Therefore, Burkhart said it had made sense for Wellspring to go to Wyoming when they started planning the Casper clinic in 2020, since it was a historically libertarian state where laws lacked major restrictions on abortion.
Burkhart said the Wellspring team has found much support in Casper from both vendors and community members, despite the recent arson attack.
“My absolute assessment is that there are some folks who we know who have been elected to the state Legislature over the past couple of cycles who do not speak for the broader majority of Wyomingites and they have their axe to grind,” Burkhart told ABC News. “They have their agenda, and unfortunately, it’s not what people in the state feel is needed or necessary.”
While most Americans nationally support abortion rights, a 2014 Pew Research poll found abortion beliefs to be right down the middle in the state, with 48% of Wyoming adults feeling abortion should be legal in most cases, and 49% believing it should be illegal in most cases.
Before the Friday ruling, Burkhart said Wellspring was already working on a legal strategy that she is hopeful will protect their ability to provide full reproductive care. She said Friday it is an “immediate” priority for the organization to determine the best legal steps going forward.
“The Wyoming constitution has strong protections for Wyomingites’ bodily autonomy. We will fight tooth and nail to protect this fundamental right for the people of Wyoming, including in the courts. We call on Wyoming lawmakers to honor the Wyoming constitution and take action to protect abortion access for the people of this state,” Burkhart said in a statement Friday.
Going out of state for care to end a pregnancy
The average distance a person in Wyoming must drive to obtain an abortion before 14 weeks was 132 miles, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights organization. That distance may expand as bans emerge, pushing people to leave their state to obtain abortion care.
Riata Little Walker, a lifelong Wyoming resident in Casper, said she had to travel to Denver, Colorado, to receive care when her pregnancy took a turn for the worse in January 2020.
Walker and her husband were ready to have their first child when doctors found a complex combination of heart defects in the fetus. At 22 weeks, Walker said she decided to be induced into labor to terminate the pregnancy.
“We were given our options, but there was no talk of leaving the hospital,” Walker told ABC News. “There was a chance our daughter could have survived birth, but she was incurable and she would have suffered greatly.”
Ultimately, Walker said she decided to undergo “termination for medical reasons,” or TFMR. In the second and third trimester, abortions can be performed by inducing labor, which includes labor and delivery.
Dr. Jeffrey Marcus, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist with North Atlanta Women’s Specialists in Georgia, told U.S. News TFMR is “when a pregnancy is ended due to a structural, genetic or chromosomal abnormality of the baby or when continuing the pregnancy would risk the health of mother.” Marcus said because it was technically abortion, an overturning of Roe would mean TFMR would not be a guaranteed option for women who receive such diagnoses.
“A lot of people don’t want to look at TFMR as abortion, but it is,” Walker said.
After the induced labor, Walker’s daughter survived for 10 minutes, during which the family said goodbye, took pictures and had her baptized. The care and compassion Walker felt from the medical professionals in Denver impacted her, she said.
“We were able to choose the best option for us and have the time that we needed to take care of our daughter,” Walker said. “Most people have to go to an abortion clinic and walk through protesters.”
Walker said she and her husband were fortunate because they had the resources to get top-level care in Denver, including her mother driving them there. The one-night stay for the procedure cost $19,000, she said.
Walker said she comes from a conservative, Catholic family of Wyoming ranchers, but added that even her great-grandparents believed abortion should be “a private decision.”
“Wyoming has had a terrible shift,” she said of the state’s politics, adding it “used to be ‘live and let live.'”
The possibility of a ban in Wyoming has Walker concerned for the futures of women in the state.
“I was pro-life with exceptions for rape, incest or if the mother had to make a decision [for her health],” Walker said, before the Supreme Court’s ruling. “But then I realized that actually meant I was pro-choice. It’s too gray to say one situation is OK and one isn’t, not everyone is going to agree, but they should have a choice.”
(NEW YORK) — Before the Supreme Court released its ruling Friday upending abortion rights in the U.S., Elisa Wells was thinking of virtual mailboxes.
For people who move or travel a lot, a virtual mailbox is a way to check their mail online. If an item is critical, they forward it to their current location.
For Wells, founder of the online abortion site Plan C, which tells women how to find the abortion pill, it’s a potential workaround to state laws restricting access.
Using dried garbanzo beans and old pill bottles, Wells tested whether a virtual mailbox set up in a state like California or New York — which allow abortion pills to be prescribed through a telehealth appointment — could make its way to a woman in a state like Texas or Oklahoma that restrict access.
The answer was yes.
“We want all the information we provide on our website to be as helpful as possible,” Wells told ABC’s “20/20.”
“We know that people looking for abortion care, especially in restricted states are in a really stressful situation. And we don’t want them to have to guess about what to do and which services to use,” she added.
As 26 states are expected to eventually ban or severely restrict abortion in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson, a grassroots resistance movement is on the rise that looks notably different than it did in the 1960s.
Unlike before the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion, about half of the U.S. will already offer abortion access, and several online-based state funds are providing patients with flights, child care, gas cards and access to food delivery services like Grubhub and DoorDash if they need to travel far. The National Abortion Federation is expanding a nationwide hotline — established in 1978 — to connect abortion seekers to those funds.
“It is just really important that people understand that there is an infrastructure in place right now to help people move across the country and to help provide support,” said Melissa Fowler, chief program officer at NAF.
It’s possible anti-abortion rights states will try to brand such efforts as illegal, paving the way for more court challenges.
The other major difference is federal approval 22 years ago of the drug mifepristone. Used in combination with another drug, misoprostol – commonly prescribed for stomach ulcers — the Food and Drug Administration says the pills can be used to induce an abortion so long as a woman is within 10 weeks of pregnancy.
The FDA also says those drugs can be prescribed through a telehealth appointment and mailed to the person’s home, although anti-abortion states have restricted access. A group called Just the Pill and Abortion Delivered said Friday that it’s now launching new mobile clinics in Colorado — one that will offer surgical abortion for patients over 11 weeks, and another equipped entirely for telehealth appointments for medication abortion.
Another group, called Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equality, is training local activists on how to “self-manage” an abortion, including when and how to take mifepristone and misoprostol. Several anti-abortion rights lawmakers and activists say this could potentially violate state laws that prohibit “aiding and abetting” abortion.
Kimberly Inez McGuire, head of URGE, said she believes their work will be protected as free speech.
“Before Roe (v Wade), we did not have safe and effective abortion pills like we do now. We didn’t have the internet. And so it really is a different circumstance,” she said.
This grassroots movement also is looking overseas. Among the options the website Plan C points people towards is Aid Access, an international organization that prescribes the abortion pill to women in the U.S. even if their state law prohibits it.
Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, founder of the organization, told ABC that she will personally conduct a telehealth appointment online with American patients and prescribe the pills to them for 95 euros; the pills are then filled from a pharmacy in India and mailed to the U.S. address. Gomperts said she believes state laws only apply to residents of that state, whereas she works out of Amsterdam and Austria.
The FDA though warns getting medications overseas from sites not regulated by the U.S. could be dangerous. Under federal rules, the abortion pill can only be prescribed by certified clinicians and provided from FDA-inspected manufacturers.
Another drawback: The medication can take as long as three weeks to arrive – posing a risk that patients may take the medication too late in their pregnancy.
Gomperts said she is confident in the quality of the product and will continue to offer the service. She predicted other doctors in the U.S. and around the world will follow suit as states ban abortion.
“What will happen (in the U.S.) is what happens everywhere in the world and that is that there will be huge underground markets,” she told ABC’s “Nightline.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law the gun safety package passed by Congress this week.
“Time is of the essence,” Biden said as he delivered remarks in the Roosevelt Room alongside first lady Jill Biden. “Lives will be saved.”
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act broke a nearly 30-year stalemate on Capitol Hill, becoming the first major piece of federal gun reform to clear both chambers since the Brady bill.
“At a time when it seems impossible to get anything done in Washington, we are doing something consequential,” Biden said.
A bipartisan group of senators began crafting the legislation in the aftermath of a tragic mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 young children and two teachers dead.
In heartbreaking testimony, lawmakers heard directly from a fourth grader trapped inside her classroom as the rampage unfolded. She testified that she smeared herself with her classmate’s blood and played dead to survive as the shooter terrorized the school for more than an hour.
The House passed the Senate-backed legislation on Friday — exactly one month after the Uvalde massacre.
Following the historic vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a bill enrollment ceremony where she said Congress was “honoring a promise in honor of all those who have lost loved ones to gun violence.”
The law includes $750 million to help states implement “red flag” laws to remove firearms from people deemed to be a danger to themselves or others, as well as other violence prevention programs. It also provides funding for a variety of programs aimed at shoring up the nation’s mental health apparatus and securing schools.
It will enhance background checks for gun buyers under the age of 21 by giving authorities up to 10 business days to review the juvenile and mental health records of young gun purchasers, and makes it unlawful for someone to purchase a gun for someone who would fail a background check.
Another key provision is closing the so-called “boyfriend loophole” so individuals in “serious” “dating relationships” who are convicted of domestic abuse will be prevented from purchasing a gun.
But the law doesn’t go as far as Democrats — and Biden — wanted, excluding measures such as universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
The House has passed several bills with stricter gun regulations, but none have been taken up in the Senate.
“I know there’s much more work to do, and I’m never going to give up,” Biden said on Saturday. “But this is a monumental day.”
The signing of the gun safety bill comes just days after a major Supreme Court decision expanding gun rights.
The court’s conservative majority struck down a 100-year-old New York law that restricted the concealed carry of handguns in public to only those with a “proper cause.” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the opinion that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.
The high court on Friday also delivered a ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision legalizing abortion access nationwide for the past 50 years.
When asked about the Supreme Court on Saturday, Biden said he thought the court has “made some terrible decisions.”
(SEVIERVILLE, Tenn.) — A black bear has died after accidentally locking itself inside a hot car while authorities say it was most likely scavenging for food.
The incident occurred at a rental cabin in Sevierville, Tennessee — approximately 30 miles east of Knoxville — when authorities from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) say the owner of the vehicle the bear was found had left the property in a different vehicle at around 10 a.m.
But when the owner returned to the home approximately nine hours later at 6:45 p.m., they found the bear dead inside the vehicle with the car doors shut.
“It appears that the bear got inside the car by using its teeth or paws to open the unlocked door and was trapped inside after the door shut behind it,” the TWRA said in a post on social media. “We believe that heat likely killed the bear as outside temperatures exceeded 95 degrees [on Wednesday] meaning the vehicle’s interior possibly reached over 140 degrees.”
Pictures released by the TWRA show the bear slumped between the driver’s seat and the front passenger’s seat as a soda can and food waste can be seen on the floor of the car.
Citing the incident, authorities implored the public to be extra cautious and vigilant when it comes to dealing with and disposing of food in areas where bears might be.
“Here is a good example of how garbage kills bears … Notice the empty soda can and food package on the floorboard,” warned the TWRA. “Bears have noses 7 times better than a bloodhound and can smell even the faintest odor of food inside a vehicle. Lock your doors, roll up your windows, and never leave food or anything that smells like food inside! Empty food containers, candy wrappers, fast food bags, and even air fresheners can attract bears.”
(OSLO, Norway) — Two people were fatally shot and 10 were injured early Saturday in a nightclub in Oslo, Norway, in what Oslo police now suspect was a terror attack.
Authorities say the gunman, identified as a 42-year-old Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, was arrested after opening fire at three locations in downtown Oslo at approximately 1 a.m., including at a nightclub that is popular within the LGBTQ community called The London Pub.
Police attorney Christian Hatlo confirmed that the unnamed suspect was being held on charges of suspicion of murder, attempted murder and terrorism, and that the suspect’s mental health was also being investigated.
“Our overall assessment is that there are grounds to believe that he wanted to cause grave fear in the population,” Hatlo said. “We need to go through his medical history, if he has any. It’s not something that we’re aware of now.”
Authorities said they were able to seize two weapons following the suspected terror attack, including a handgun and an automatic weapon which Hatlo described as “not modern” but gave no further details.
Two of the shooting victims were killed, Oslo police inspector Tore Soldal said. He also confirmed that the other 10 victims were being treated for serious injuries but that all 10 were expected to survive.
“I saw a man arrive at the site with a bag. He picked up a weapon and started shooting,” said Olav Roenneberg, a journalist from Norwegian public broadcaster NRK who said he witnessed the attack. “First I thought it was an air gun. Then the glass of the bar next door was shattered and I understood I had to run for cover.”
Following the shooting, Oslo Pride confirmed that it has been advised by authorities to cancel the annual Pride parade and other Pride events that had been scheduled for this weekend.
“Oslo Pride therefore urges everyone who planned to participate or watch the parade to not show up. All events in connection with Oslo Prides are canceled,” Oslo Pride organizers said on the official Facebook page of the event.
“The shooting outside London Pub in Oslo tonight was a cruel and deeply shocking attack on innocent people,” said Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoer in a Facebook post following the attack.
Store added that the mass shooting had caused immediate fear and grief within Norway’s LGBTQ community.
“We all stand by you,” Store wrote.
ABC News’ Rashid Haddou, Lama Hasan, Ahmad Hemingway and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Ali Alexander, the conservative activist behind the “Stop the Steal” movement, appeared Friday before a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Alexander’s attorney confirmed to ABC News.
Alexander provided nearly three hours of testimony to one of the grand juries impaneled in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., as part of the Department of Justice’s criminal probe into the events of Jan. 6, Alexander’s attorney, Paul Kamenar, said.
The appearance came six months after Alexander testified before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.
In a written statement on Friday, Alexander said that several months ago he received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s office “requesting essentially the same documents I turned over to the January 6 Committee and to testify.”
“I was assured that I was not a target but a fact witness,” Alexander said in the statement. “I provided the documents requested and suggested they obtain my full transcript of my testimony from the January 6 Committee. They responded then that they cannot obtain those transcripts due to separation of powers and thus, they needed me to repeat my testimony here today.”
Alexander, who organized a series of “Stop the Steal” rallies in the months leading up to Jan. 6, was at the U.S. Capitol during the attack but has said he was only there to de-escalate the conflict, and that his comments at rallies and on livestreams leading up to the riot have been taken out of context and misconstrued as encouraging violence.
“I did not plan or participate in any illegal activity, and in fact, pleaded with protestors not to enter the Capitol,” he said in Friday’s statement.
On Dec. 9, Alexander spent eight hours taking questions from the House Jan. 6 committee on everything from his organization’s finances to his communications with Republican officials. Afterward Alexander described the tone of the questions as “absolutely adversarial,” but said he was “truthful” with the committee.
Later that month, ABC News reported that Alexander had told congressional investigators that he had communicated with several House Republican lawmakers ahead of the Jan. 6 rally and Capitol riot, along with at least one member of the Trump family’s inner circle. Alexander disclosed his communications in a lawsuit he filed challenging the panel from obtaining his phone records from Verizon.
Alexander disclosed his communications in a lawsuit he filed trying to prevent the panel from obtaining his phone records from Verizon.
“I am challenging in court the Select Committee’s unlawful subpoena to Verizon to fish through my phone records and those of one of my volunteers whose only ‘crime’ was to exercise her First Amendment rights to pass out a few signs at the rallies, sing patriotic songs, and pray,” Alexander said in Friday’s statement.
(SURFSIDE, Fla.) — First lady Jill Biden spoke Friday morning at the site of the Champlain Towers South condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, on the one-year anniversary of the tragedy.
Joining Biden at the event were Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, local officials, and religious leaders.
“We honor the light you found in each other,” she said, recognizing the communal strength of the grieving families.
In the early morning hours of June 24, 2021, the Surfside condominium collapsed, killing 98 people.
Biden offered her personal experience with grief, while speaking to community members and loved ones of those lost in the disaster.
She spoke about a “fellowship of loss” she said she recognizes in society. “To the uninitiated we look normal, average, whole,” said Biden, who lost her stepson, Beau, to brain cancer in 2015. “But like a secret handshake, I can spot them by the sadness that rests at the corner of their smile …”
Biden noted the “moments of grace” that come along with grief. “We find a fortitude that we didn’t know we had and we reach out for help,” she said.
The first lady thanked first responders and said she and President Joe Biden continue to stand with the south Florida community.
She concluded on a positive note, telling grieving loved ones, “Take it one breath at a time. We are praying for you and we are grieving with you. God bless you.”
DeSantis, who sat just to the right of the first lady, followed her remarks with his own account of the collapse one year ago to the day.
He announced the designation of the portion of Collins Avenue where the tower once stood as “98 Points of Light Road” and held a street sign with the newly assigned name.
During a court hearing in May, it was announced that a settlement for the victims now tops $1 billion.
