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Abortion protests continue after Supreme Court ends Roe v. Wade; Biden criticizes court’s ‘terrible decisions’

Key updates
Democratic governors announce measures to protect abortion access
Biden says Supreme Court has ‘made some terrible decisions’
On June 24, the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, leaving abortion decisions up to the states. Here’s what you need to know — and what comes next. (Video: Blair Guild/The Washington Post)
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Updated June 28, 2022 at 12:38 p.m. EDT|Published June 25, 2022 at 8:35 a.m. EDT
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As the nation continues to feel the fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision that overturns Roe v. Wade, Washington and cities coast to coast were venues for street demonstrations after the ruling was met with an outpouring of joy and rage Friday night.

After signing a bipartisan gun bill into law on Saturday, Biden again criticized the Supreme Court, saying the justices had “made some terrible decisions.” The comments come after the court overturned the fundamental national right to abortion established nearly 50 years ago, a ruling that leaves states free to drastically reduce access to or even outlaw abortion. Biden has said the decision puts reproductive health at risk, and he singled out Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion, in which the justice opened the door to the court revisiting decisions on contraception and same-sex marriage.  
Democratic governors announce measures to protect abortion access
Biden says Supreme Court has ‘made some terrible decisions’

What else you need to know

  • The vote was 6 to 3 to uphold a restrictive Mississippi law. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., though, criticized his conservative colleagues for taking the additional step of overturning Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which had reaffirmed the right to abortion.
  • In their joint dissent, the court’s three liberal justices took note of the states that will move quickly to restrict abortion access and emphasized the sweeping impact of the court’s decision on the rights of women to terminate their pregnancies.
  • A group of French lawmakers proposed a bill Saturday to enshrine the right to an abortion in the country’s constitution. Aurore Bergé, a legislator who heads President Emmanuel Macron’s party in Parliament, told the radio station France Inter that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade demonstrated the need to secure the right in the constitution.
  • Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) on Saturday called on Biden to declare a public health emergency over abortion access.
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Here's what to know:

The vote was 6 to 3 to uphold a restrictive Mississippi law. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., though, criticized his conservative colleagues for taking the additional step of overturning Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which had reaffirmed the right to abortion.
In their joint dissent, the court’s three liberal justices took note of the states that will move quickly to restrict abortion access and emphasized the sweeping impact of the court’s decision on the rights of women to terminate their pregnancies.
A group of French lawmakers proposed a bill Saturday to enshrine the right to an abortion in the country’s constitution. Aurore Bergé, a legislator who heads President Emmanuel Macron’s party in Parliament, told the radio station France Inter that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade demonstrated the need to secure the right in the constitution.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) on Saturday called on Biden to declare a public health emergency over abortion access.

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Roe v. Wade and abortion access in America

In June 2022 the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, which for nearly 50 years has protected the right to abortion. Read the full decision here.

What happens now? The legality of abortion is left to individual states. The Post is tracking states where abortion is banned or under threat, as well as Democratic-dominated states that moved to protect abortion rights enshrined in Roe v. Wade.

Abortion pills: Abortion advocates are concerned a Texas judge’s upcoming abortion pill ruling could halt over half the legal abortions carried out nationwide. Here’s how the ruling could impact access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

Post-Roe America: With Roe overturned, women who had secret abortions before Roe v. Wade felt compelled to speak out. Other women, who were and seeking abortions while living in states with strict abortion bans shared also shared their experience with The Post through calls, text messages and other documentation that supported their accounts. Here are photos and stories from across America since the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

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