The White House press secretary strongly condemned the Arizona Supreme Court’s upholding of a total abortion ban, calling it “wrong, shameful, and dangerous.”
She said the ruling will force women in Arizona to go through difficult circumstances, as part of a larger trend of Republican-backed state abortion restrictions since the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade.
The press secretary said this is the “Republicans’ plan on abortion” since Republican presidents appointed justices who overturned Roe, leading to bans that make healthcare difficult for women.
Jean-Pierre said, “What we saw today it is wrong, it is shameful, it is dangerous, what women now and Arizona are going to have to go through. There are 21 extreme state bans across the country. And it is because of what elected officials have been able to do. This started with the Dobbs decision. This started with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. What we are seeing today in Arizona and states across the country, is the Republicans plan on abortion.”
While Republicans now “own” these abortion restrictions, she said the Biden administration is trying to protect women’s rights to choose through executive action.
In conclusion, she said the administration as standing with the majority of Americans who support abortion rights, in contrast to Republicans who “don’t seem to care” about public opinion on protecting freedoms.
She added, “They can’t run away from it, they can’t turn away from it or hide from it. this is theirs. The reason that we are in the situation right now, is because the former president put judges along with the help of Senate Republicans, put judges on the Supreme Court to make this happen, to overturn Roe v. Wade, what was a constitutional right for almost 50 years. Now, we have these types of bands across the country that takes it very difficult for women to get healthcare. They get turned away from getting life-saving procedures. They get turned away from emergency rooms. They are banning IVF. They are trying to criminalize doctors. This is what they’re doing. So, they own this now.”
Jean-Pierre said, “What the president is trying to do and you heard this in his statement and you heard him say this over and over again. They want to protect women’s rights, women’s right to make a choice on their own bodies.”
She said, “We are standing on the side of the majority of Americans, and we are in lockstep with them. Republicans, they don’t seem to care what the majority of Americans care about, making sure that our freedoms are protected.”
