Former US President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama have reacted after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending women’s rights to abortion.
The Obamas joined others to react to the ruling today, which many have termed the bleakest day for abortion rights in 50 years.
Barack Obama condemned the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade in a statement and urged people to vote and “join with the activists who’ve been sounding the alarm on abortion access for years.”
“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,” Barack Obama wrote on Twitter and Instagram.
The statement continued: “Across the country, states have already passed bills restricting choice. If you’re looking for ways to respond, @PPFA, @USOWomen, 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.
“Join with the activists who’ve been sounding the alarm on abortion access for years — and act. Stand with them at a local protest. Volunteer with one of their organizations. Knock on doors for a candidate you believe in. Vote on or before November 8 and in every other election. Because in the end, if we want judges who will protect all, and not just some, of our rights, then we’ve got to elect officials committed to doing the same.”
Michelle Obama took to her own Twitter and Instagram accounts to write: “I am heartbroken – for the teenage girl, full of zest and promise, who won’t be able to finish school or live the life she wants because her state controls her reproductive decisions; for the mother of a nonviable pregnancy who is now forced to bring that pregnancy to term; for the parents watching their child’s future evaporate before their very eyes; for the health care workers who can no longer help them without risking jail time.”