Reaction from political leaders to the U.S Supreme Court decision Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade — the ruling that legalized abortions in the United States — fell predictably along party lines. Republicans hailed it as the correct decision while Democrats framed it as call to action in an election year.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a statement, called the ruling “courageous and correct. This is an historic victory for the Constitution and for the most vulnerable in our society.”
He said the high court “has corrected a terrible legal and moral error,” and compared it to the Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954, which outlawed segregation in schools.
From his Twitter account, former Republican Vice President Mike Pence also praised the decision, saying, “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.”
Among Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called it “one of the darkest days” the country had ever seen. He said “millions and millions” of American women were having their rights ripped away by a “hard-right Supreme Court.”
With an eye toward U.S. voters, Schumer said, “Today’s decision makes crystal clear the contrast as we approach the November elections. Elect more MAGA Republicans if you want nationwide abortion bans.” Or, he said, elect Democrats who will work to “protect a woman’s right to choose.”
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was just as direct in her comments. A stone-faced Pelosi addressed reporters, saying, “A woman’s right to choose, reproductive freedom, is on the ballot in November.”
Expressing the decision as a call to action, Pelosi said, “Republicans are plotting a nationwide abortion ban. They cannot be allowed to have a majority in the Congress to do that, but that’s their goal.”
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.