Protestors in the United States continue to voice their fury and anguish over the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Roe v Wade ruling which gave women federal abortion protections.
The Court abolished the constitutional right to abortion on Friday, more than 50 years after it was established, leaving individual states to decide.
Within hours, abortion was already illegal in multiple US states including Utah, Alabama and Ohio. The court’s ruling is ultimately expected to lead to abortion bans in about half of the states.
US President, Joe Biden, has weighed in on the abortion ruling as he signed the most significant gun control bill in decades on Saturday.
“I think the Supreme Court has made some terrible decisions,” Biden said. “The decision is administered by states. My administration is going to focus on how they administer it and whether or not they abide by their own law.”
Political leaders across the world, including Greece and Australia, also slammed the US Supreme Court’s ruling.
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said on Saturday he was “really troubled” by the ruling because it was “a major step back in the fight for women’s rights.”
Main opposition SYRIZA leader, Alexis Tsipras, also issued a statement on Twitter and said the court’s decision on abortions “sends a dangerous message affecting the international community.”
“Rights that should be self-evident are challenged. Our duty is to stand against those bringing us back to the dark ages. The right of every woman over her own body is non-negotiable,” Tsipras said in the tweet.
In Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese added that the overturning of Roe v Wade was a “concern.”
“The concern that is there from women, I think globally, is that this is a setback for women’s health and for the issue of women’s safety as well,” Albanese said.
“This is a decision which goes to the heart of a woman’s right to control her own body.”
According to a website affiliated with Planned Parenthood, the US sexual healthcare organisation, it remains legal to travel out of state to get an abortion.
READ MORE: Protesting outside SA abortion clinics has been outlawed as new laws pass Parliament.
