Biden scolds Supreme Court to faces for overturning Roe as they sit in front row
Joe Biden had a stern message for the Supreme Court after its landmark overturning of Roe v. Wade during his State of the Union address.
The US President stared down and berated the justices sitting in the front row as he took an aside from his pre-prepared speech on Thursday evening, bashing the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. “In the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court wrote the following, with all due respect, justices: ‘Women are not without… electoral or political power,’” he said quoting the Supreme Court's own statement back at them.
In June 2022, the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was a controversial decision of the Supreme Court to overturn 1973’s Roe v Wade ruling. It had previously granted women the right to an abortion up until the point of foetal viability.
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President Biden scorned justices sitting in the front row (Getty Images)In a seemingly ad-libbed moment, he said: “You’re about to realise just how much you... were right about that.” Democrats in the chamber got to their feet and erupted into cheers at his comment.
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“Clearly, those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women, but they found out,” he continued. “When reproductive freedom was on the ballot, we won in 2022 and 2020 [sic], and we’ll win again in 2024.”
Biden got a standing ovation for his remarks to the Supreme Court (Getty Images)Surrounded by applause, the justices sat in their black robes with a blank expression on their faces. It is tradition that those who attend the State of the Union address do not applaud or engage in activity that could appear partisan.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who Biden greeted as he entered the chamber, was in the audience, along with several other justices who were involved in the 6-3 conservative majority ruling in 2022 that struck down Roe v Wade. The author of the opinion, Justice Samuel Alito, was not present.
"Many of you in this chamber and my predecessor are promising to pass a national ban on reproductive freedom" said the President in a remark directed at House and Senate Republicans. Adding: "My God! What freedom else would you take away?"
Biden attacked those bragging about the overturning of Roe v Wade (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)He then continued to scorn those “bragging about overturning Roe v Wade”, adding that they had “no clue about the power of women. But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot”. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has regularly taken credit for appointing three conservative justices to the Supreme Court who voted to abolish Roe v Wade.
Biden then proceeded to outline his second-term plans surrounding the legislation surrounding abortion rights. He declared: “If you, the American people, send me a Congress that supports the right to choose, I promise you, I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again.”
It comes after Biden doubled down that reproductive rights aren’t safe in Republican hands, slamming former president Donald Trump for being “proud” of taking down Roe v Wade. On January 10, during a town hall event in Iowa, Trump said: “For 54 years, they were trying to get Roe v Wade terminated. And I did it and I’m proud to have done it”.
All three of Trump’s Supreme Court justices voted to overturn the decision in the case Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
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