WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Public figures across the political spectrum reacted to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Friday overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that recognized a woman's constitutional right to an abortion and legalized it nationwide.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN IN A LIVE ANNOUNCEMENT:
"Today the Supreme Court of the United States expressly took away a constitutional right from the American people that it had already recognized."
"This is a sad day for the country in my view. But it doesn't mean the fight's over. Let me be very clear and unambiguous: the only way we can secure a woman's right to choose a balance that exists is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade as federal law."
"Voters need to make their voices heard. This fall (they) must elect more senators and representatives who will codify a woman's right to choose into federal law once again."
"I've warned about how this decision risks the broader right to privacy for everyone ... The right to make the best decisions for your health. The right to use birth control, a married couple in the privacy of their bedroom."
STEPHANE DUJARRIC, SPOKESMAN FOR U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES
"Sexual and reproductive health and rights are the foundation of a life of choice, empowerment and equality for the world's women and girls ... Restricting access to abortion does not prevent people from seeking abortion, it only makes it more deadly."
HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, A DEMOCRAT, IN A STATEMENT:
"This cruel ruling is outrageous and heart-wrenching. But make no mistake: the rights of women and all Americans are on the ballot this November."
SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL IN A STATEMENT:
"This is an historic victory for the Constitution and for the most vulnerable in our society."
(The decision is) "courageous and correct."
PLANNED PARENTHOOD:
"SCOTUS may have just ended our constitutional right to abortion, but know this: Abortion is health care, and you deserve to control your body and your future, no matter what. That hasn't changed. We can’t and we won't back down now."
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) DIRECTOR-GENERAL TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, TO REUTERS:
"I am very disappointed, because women's rights must be protected. And I would have expected America to protect such rights."
REPUBLICAN FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:
"This is following the Constitution, and giving rights back when they should have been given long ago ... This brings everything back to the states where it has always belonged."
FORMER VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE IN A STATEMENT:
"Today, Life Won. By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court of the United States has given the American people a new beginning for life, and I commend the justices in the majority for having the courage of their convictions.
DEMOCRATIC FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
"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."
FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON:
"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. Today's Supreme Court opinion will live in infamy as a step backward for women's rights and human rights."
FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON, ON TWITTER:
"Abortion is a fundamental right for all women. We must protect it. I would like to express my solidarity with all those women whose freedoms have today been compromised by the U.S. Supreme Court."
CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU ON TWITTER:
"The news coming out of the United States is horrific. My heart goes out to the millions of American women who are now set to lose their legal right to an abortion ... No government, politician, or man should tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body."
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON AT A NEWS CONFERENCE:
"I think it's a big step backwards ... I've always believed in a woman's right to choose and I stick to that view and that is why the UK has the laws that it does."
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN DICK DURBIN, IN A STATEMENT:
"I will keep fighting to enshrine into law a woman's right to make her own reproductive choices. We cannot let our children inherit a nation that is less free and more dangerous than the one their parents grew up in."
KEVIN MCCARTHY, STEVE SCALISE AND ELISE STEFANIK, THE TOP THREE REPUBLICANS IN THE U.S. HOUSE, IN A JOINT STATEMENT:
"We applaud this historic ruling, which will save countless innocent lives. The Supreme Court is right to return the power to protect the unborn to the people’s elected representatives in Congress and the states."
MINI TIMMARAJU, PRESIDENT OF NARAL PRO-CHOICE AMERICA:
"The impact on the real lives of real people will be devastating ... Though we're grieving the end of the constitutional right to abortion in our country and what it will mean for all of those who need access to care, this fight is far from over."
PENNY YOUNG NANCE, CEO AND PRESIDENT OF ANTI-ABORTION GROUP CONCERNED WOMEN FOR AMERICA:
"We feel empowered to go on a state-by-state basis and fight for what we believe in. Before we couldn't even have a conversation in state legislatures ... Certainly the federal government has a role to play but this is going to be about the states."