Biden Weighs In on Fate of Roe v. Wade

President says right to abortion should be codified into law
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 3, 2022 9:50 AM CDT
Biden Weighs In on Fate of Roe v. Wade
The Supreme Court is seen early Tuesday in Washington.   (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

President Biden has weighed in on the extraordinary leak at the Supreme Court, arguing that a woman's right to abortion should be codified into law, reports Axios. "At the federal level, we will need more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law," Biden said in a statement Tuesday morning. It came after Politico published a draft opinion showing that the court's conservative majority is poised to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in a matter of weeks.

"I believe that a woman's right to choose is fundamental, 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 the statement. Should the court rule otherwise, however, as now seems likely, the president said federal lawmakers must act. Assuming Roe is overturned, abortion is expected to become illegal relatively quickly in about half the states. Previous research has suggested the number of abortions in the US would fall by at least 14%, per the New York Times.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post notes that the pending ruling has renewed criticism on the left toward two female GOP senators, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, in regard to their public predictions about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. "I do not think that Judge Kavanaugh will be a vote to overturn Roe v. Wade," Murkowski said on the Senate floor during his confirmation hearing. Earlier that day, Collins had said the same in a speech of her own. Kavanaugh, however, is among the five justices who back the draft opinion to overturn Roe. (Anti-abortion groups want to do the opposite of what Biden says and codify the banning of the procedure into federal law.)

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