Psaki Signals Biden Committed to Codifying Roe v. Wade Regardless of SCOTUS Outcome

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Last updated on May 18th, 2021 at 08:32 pm

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said President Joe Biden and his administration remain “committed to codifying” Roe v. Wade regardless of the outcome of an upcoming Supreme Court case that could undermine the landmark abortion rights legislation.

Although Psaki did not specifically mention the Supreme Court in her statement, she criticized how “the right to health care, the right to choose, have been under withering and extreme attack, including through draconian state laws” over the last few years.

“And the president and the VP are devoted to ensuring that every American has access to health care, including reproductive health care, regardless of their income, ZIP code, race, health insurance status or immigration status,” she added. “As such, the president is committed to codifying Roe regardless of the… outcome of this case.”

You can listen to Psaki’s statement in the video below.

After Supreme Court takes up case about Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban, Psaki says President Biden is "committed to codifying" Roe v. Wade as law regardless of the case's outcome https://t.co/efnmUGH0mw pic.twitter.com/kZBDQi1Os4

— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 17, 2021

Psaki’s remarks come after the Supreme Court announced it would hear a dispute over a Mississippi law that bans virtually all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The court currently has a 6-3 conservative majority.

“Alarm bells are ringing loudly about the threat to reproductive rights,” Nancy Northup, the president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in statement. “The Supreme Court just agreed to review an abortion ban that unquestionably violates nearly 50 years of Supreme Court precedent and is a test case to overturn Roe v. Wade.”