President Joe Biden condemned the recent Alabama court ruling that grants legal rights to frozen embryos, asserting that the decision is a consequence of the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, reported The Hill.
The president also attributed the ruling to former President Donald Trump's influence on the judiciary through appointing conservative justices to the Supreme Court.
"Today, in 2024 in America, women are being turned away from emergency rooms and forced to travel hundreds of miles for health care, while doctors fear prosecution for providing an abortion," Biden said.
He expressed dismay over the Alabama Supreme Court's decision, which jeopardizes fertility treatments for families striving to conceive, labeling it as "outrageous and unacceptable."
Biden affirmed his commitment to defending women's reproductive rights and advocated for reinstating the safeguards provided by Roe v. Wade.
In a landmark ruling of profound consequence, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, nullifying the constitutional right to abortion, upheld for nearly 50 years.
Justice Samuel Alito, writing on behalf of the court's majority, stated that the 1973 Roe decision and subsequent reaffirmations were "egregiously wrong," their justifications "exceptionally weak," and their repercussions so severe as to constitute "a misuse of judicial authority," reported NPR.
The Alabama Supreme Court's ruling did not ban in vitro fertilization but established unprecedented legal protections for embryos. Its implications may extend nationwide, intensifying the ongoing debate surrounding reproductive rights.
Following the decision, two health care systems in Alabama announced a temporary suspension of IVF treatments.
Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez attributed the situation in Alabama to the broader agenda of "pro-life" Republicans, accusing them of interfering in personal decisions concerning contraception and IVF.
Rodriguez warned against the potential consequences of a Trump presidency, asserting that his administration would "impose his extreme anti-freedom agenda" on reproductive freedom nationwide.
Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for the upcoming election, has not publicly commented on the Alabama ruling.
Meanwhile, his primary opponent, Nikki Haley, expressed her belief that embryos are babies but clarified that she does not endorse the Alabama court's decision.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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