Calling it a “slap in the face for women,” Nancy Pelosi, leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, criticized the Supreme Court decision that overturned the nationwide right to abortion the previous day. Now, individual states can control women’s bodies.
Following the decision, in New York, at least a thousand people demonstrated in support of abortion rights. Protesters in Washington Square Park in Manhattan on Friday night (local time) were holding up signs reading “My rapist has more rights than me” and were chanting slogans such as “Abortion is a human right.”
A number of women’s rights organizations had called for protests in the liberal U.S. East Coast metropolis. The crowds quickly continued to swell Friday night. Other parts of the country are also expected to see demonstrations on Saturday.
Legislation to go into effect immediately
The ruling now calls for leaving it up to the states to decide how to regulate their abortion laws. That is considered particularly drastic. Some states already have readied laws that can go into effect immediately if existing jurisprudence overturns – so-called trigger laws. It is primarily the arch-conservative states in the South and Midwest that intend to ban abortion completely or almost completely. The first to do so were Missouri and South Dakota.
Several liberal U.S. states indicated they would continue to protect the right to abortions. On Friday, the governors of California, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, among others, declared their liberal stance on abortions.
Today is a very solemn moment for the United States.
The Supreme Court expressly took away a Constitutional right from the American people that it had already recognized. They simply took it away. That's never been done to a right that is so important to so many Americans.
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 24, 2022
The decision means pregnant women have to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to access an abortion clinic. For many, that’s something they can’t afford. The fear is that more women will again try to perform abortions themselves.
“It is, in my view, the realization of an extreme ideology and a tragic mistake by the Supreme Court,” Biden said Friday in Washington. “I will do everything in my power to fight this deeply un-American attack.” He added that the U.S. Congress must act now to have the final say in the matter. “It is not over,” Biden said.
Celebs react in shock
A number of celebrities likewise reacted with shock to the Supreme Court’s historic decision against liberal abortion rights in the United States. “I am absolutely shocked that we are at this point,” singer Taylor Swift wrote on Twitter. “After so many decades of people fighting for women’s right to control their bodies, this decision has taken that away from us.”
I’m absolutely terrified that this is where we are – that after so many decades of people fighting for women’s rights to their own bodies, today’s decision has stripped us of that. https://t.co/mwK561oxxl
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 24, 2022
Hailey Bieber, a model and wife of pop star Justin Bieber, commented via Instagram, “Wow … I’m speechless. What a terrible loss and what a disappointment. This is very, very scary.” Fellow actress Viola Davis wrote via Twitter that she was “devastated.” “Now more than ever we need to use our voices and our power.”
It is truly unfathomable and disheartening to have to try to explain to my 11 year old daughter why we live in a world where women’s rights are disintegrating in front of our eyes.
— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) June 24, 2022
“It is truly unimaginable and disheartening to have to try to explain to my 11-year-old daughter why we live in a world where women’s rights are crumbling before our eyes,” singer Mariah Carey wrote.
Also Read:
