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Roe v Wade: Biden vows legal challenge to ban on abortion pill

The US president said the Supreme Court decision on Roe v Wade was 'shocking' and 'terrible' - Reuters
The US president said the Supreme Court decision on Roe v Wade was 'shocking' and 'terrible' - Reuters

Joe Biden vowed to take action to protect women’s rights by fighting to stop states from banning abortion pills, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on Friday.

The US President also warned anti-abortion states they would be breaking the law if they stopped women travelling to other parts of America to reach clinics.

It came as Democrats launched a desperate fightback after America’s top court – now dominated by conservative justices – threw out the 50-year-old ruling guaranteeing abortion as a nationwide constitutional right.

The seismic ruling further crystallised divisions in America and led to protests across the country that continued on Saturday.

After major protests across the US on Friday, hundreds of protesters again descended on the Supreme Court on Saturday, chanting “my body, my choice”.

Several states, including Missouri, Louisiana, Kentucky, Wisconsin and South Dakota, instituted immediate abortion bans, with up to half the US states poised to follow.

Setting up a new legal front, Mr Biden’s administration indicated it would try to prevent anti-abortion states from banning Mifepristone, one of the pills used for medical abortions, which are potentially a way for women to continue to access abortion even in states where it is banned.

Lawyers for the federal government will argue that the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Mifepristone in 2000 overrides state restrictions.

Pills were used in 54 per cent of all abortions in the US in 2020, according to research by the Guttmacher Institute.

Already this week, the governor of Louisiana signed a new law making it punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and a fine of up to $75,000, to bring abortion pills into the state by post.

Abortion rights activists protest outside the Supreme Court after it threw out the 50-year-old ruling guaranteeing abortion as a nationwide constitutional right - Shutterstock
Abortion rights activists protest outside the Supreme Court after it threw out the 50-year-old ruling guaranteeing abortion as a nationwide constitutional right - Shutterstock
NYPD officers arrest several abortion rights activists after they blocked traffic while protesting the overturning of Roe v Wade - AFP
NYPD officers arrest several abortion rights activists after they blocked traffic while protesting the overturning of Roe v Wade - AFP

Mr Biden said attempts to restrict medical abortion would be “wrong and extreme and out of touch with the majority of Americans”.

He added: “We’re going to take action to protect women’s rights and reproductive health.

“The decision [to ban abortion] is implemented by states, and my administration is going to focus on how they administer it, and whether or not they violate other laws – like deciding to not allow people to cross state lines to get public health services.”

Mr Biden, speaking at the White House before departing for the G7 summit in Germany, said he thought the Supreme Court decision was “shocking” and “terrible”.

Merrick Garland, Mr Biden’s attorney general, said: “States may not ban Mifepristone, based on disagreement with the FDA.”

Greer Donley, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh, said the tactic showed “that they [the Biden administration] understand the stakes and are willing to pursue novel ideas.”

Meanwhile, the Democratic West Coast states of California, Washington and Oregon announced they would be a “safe haven” for any American women seeking abortions, and vowed to “fight like hell to protect our rights and our values”.

Thousands of supporters of Roe v Wade demonstrated in major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington and Chicago, after the decision was announced on Friday.

Outside the Supreme Court they held signs reading “You have failed us” and “Shame”.

In Arizona, police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators from outside the state Capitol.

Police said the protesters “repeatedly pounded on the glass doors of the State Senate Building” as politicians were forced to hide in a basement