Friday’s passage of a bill outlawing almost all abortions in Indiana was panned by President Joe Biden.
“The Indiana legislature took a devastating step as a result of the Supreme Court’s extreme decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and eliminate women’s constitutionally-protected right to abortion,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Saturday. “And, it’s another radical step by Republican legislators to take away women’s reproductive rights and freedom, and put personal health care decisions in the hands of politicians rather than women and their doctors.”
Her remarks came just days after she had claimed the Supreme Court acted contrary to the Constitution by overturning Roe v. Wade.
“It was an unconstitutional action by them — a right that was around for almost 50 years, a right that women had to make a decision on their bodies and how they want to start their families,” she said Wednesday.
The president’s spokeswoman should serve as a signal to Americans to make their voices heard. She also renewed President Biden’s call for Congress to take immediate action by passing legislation restoring protections provided by Roe v. Wade’s decision.
The new Indiana law will become effective September 15. Its restrictions against abortion include exceptions for rape, incest and when a mother’s life would be otherwise jeopardized.
GOP State Representative John Jacob supports a total ban on abortion, according to a CNN report. Jacob said on the House floor Friday he would not support the bill because it “regulates abortion, which is baby murder.”
Democratic Rep. Renee Pack reportedly reacted to Jacob’s remarks by talking of her own 1990 abortion received while she was in the military.
“It took me getting to this statehouse for my colleagues to call me a murderer,” Pack exclaimed. “I had to get that kind of abuse in this room, in this chamber.”
“Sir, I am not a murderer, and my sisters are not murderers either,” Pack added Friday. “We are pro-choice. We believe that we have command over our own bodies.”
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