Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade
Fox News' chief legal correspondent Shannon Bream provides details on the Supreme Court's ruling that reverses the long-standing precedent on abortion in America.
Republicans and Democrats had polar opposite reactions to the Supreme Court's decision Friday in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, which overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, sending the issue back to the states.
"We end this opinion where we began. Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the court's opinion.
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Reactions to the ruling were sharply divided along party lines.
People celebrate, Friday, June 24, 2022, outside the Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years, a decision by its conservative majority to overturn the court's landmark abortion cases. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said that the "Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Dobbs is courageous and correct."
"This is an historic victory for the Constitution and for the most vulnerable in our society," he said in a statement.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Friday "one of the darkest days our country has ever seen."
"Millions upon millions of American women are having their rights taken from them by five unelected Justices on the extremist MAGA court," Schumer added.
People protest for and against legal abortion on Friday, June 24, outside the Supreme Court in Washington. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., however, had a different view on the ruling, claiming the Supreme Court is "Republican-controlled" that "has achieved the GOP’s dark and extreme goal of ripping away women’s right to make their own reproductive health decisions."
"This cruel ruling is outrageous and heart-wrenching," Pelosi said. "But make no mistake: the rights of women and all Americans are on the ballot this November."
Pelosi also said she was personally overwhelmed by the decision.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., celebrated the ruling, tweeting that every "unborn child is precious, extraordinary, and worthy of protection."
"I applaud this historic ruling, which will save countless innocent lives," he wrote. "The Court is right to return the power to protect the unborn to the people’s elected representatives in Congress and the states."
Meanwhile, "Squad" member Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., released a lengthy statement decrying the decision, saying it "is devastating for millions of women and pregnant people across the country" and claimed the ruling was a "blow" to the 14th Amendment.
"I am outraged this right-wing court is turning the clock back on generations of progress and prohibiting individuals to have autonomy over their bodies," Omar wrote.
"The Senate has a moral responsibility to abolish the filibuster and pass the Women’s Health Protection Act to enshrine reproductive rights into law," she also claimed.
Former President Barack Obama also weighed in on the ruling, claiming the Supreme Court "relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues—attacking the essential freedoms of millions of Americans."
Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also shared her thoughts on Twitter, writing that most "Americans believe the decision to have a child is one of the most sacred decisions there is, and that such decisions should remain between patients and their doctors" and that today’s "Supreme Court opinion will live in infamy as a step backward for women's rights and human rights."
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley told Fox News Digital the decision "is a historic win for the pro-life movement."
"It’s an even bigger win for the American people. It puts the debate back where it belongs—at the state level, closest to the people," she said. "My hope is that there is a renewed commitment from elected lawmakers to support and protect mothers and their pre-born babies."
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Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle flooded Twitter with their reactions to the ruling.
Fox News Digital’s Ronn Blitzer and Kelly Laco contributed reporting.
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