Barack And Michelle Obama Respond To Supreme Court’s Decision To Overturn Roe V. Wade

The Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in a landmark ruling on Friday morning (June 24). The historic decision, arriving a month after Politico published the Supreme Court abortion draft opinion, will eliminate women’s constitutional right to safe abortion procedures after existing for half a century. Sparking outrage across the country in the aftermath of the ruling, former President Barack Obama offered his thoughts on the controversial decision, stating it attacks “the essential freedoms of millions of Americans.”

“Today, the Supreme Court not only reversed nearly 50 years of precedent,” Obama expressed in a statement. “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.”

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“Across the country, states have already passed bills restricting choice. [So] if you’re looking for ways to respond,” continued the two-term Democratic President offering a call to action. “Planned Parenthood, the United States of Women, 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.”

Before the official Supreme Court Roe v. Wade overturning, Obama responded to the leaked draft opinion in May 2022 with a lengthy statement.

“The consequences of this decision would be a blow not just to women, but to all of us who believe that in a free society,” Obama urged in his previous statement. “There are limits to how much the government can encroach on our personal lives,”

Michelle Obama also shared her disheartened thoughts about the Supreme Court’s decision to allow individual states to make abortion illegal.

“I am heartbroken for people around this country who just lost the fundamental right to make informed decisions about their own bodies,” she expressed in a lengthy statement. “I am heartbroken that we may now be destined to learn the painful lessons of a time before Roe was made law of the land — a time when women risked losing their lives getting illegal abortions. A time when the government denied women control over their reproductive functions, forced them to move forward with pregnancies they didn’t want, and then abandoned them once their babies were born.

“When we don’t understand our history, we are doomed to repeat its mistakes. In this country, our futures are tied together in a delicate tapestry that we each have a hand in making. Too often, cynicism or indifference makes us feel like we don’t have a say in weaving it, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The more we allow pessimism to push us further into helplessness, the less we will be empowered to help create the kind of country we want to live in.”

“This horrifying decision will have devastating consequences, and it must be a wake-up call, especially to the young people who will bear its burden,” she wrote. “I know this is not the future you chose for your generation — but if you give up now, you will inherit a country that does not resemble you or any of the values you believe in.”

Barack Obama wasn’t the only former President who offered their opinion on the landmark overruling. According to the New York Times, former President Donald Trump — who appointed three of the justices that worked to overrule Roe v. Wade — stated privately in the weeks leading up to the decision that abolishing the ruling would be “bad for Republicans.” The outlet stated that Trump believed overturning the ruling would anger suburban women, the same demographic who helped President Biden win against the Republican candidate in 2020.

However, former President Trump has since changed his stance as Fox News released an interview with the politician on Friday morning (June 24), stating that “God made the decision.” He also stated that abolishing Roe v. Wade follows “the Constitution, and giving rights back when they should have been given long ago.”

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