Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 2022

May 3, 2022

We do not know whether this draft is genuine or whether it reflects the final decision of the Court. With that critical caveat, I want to be clear on three points about the cases before the Supreme Court.

First, my administration argued strongly before the Court in defense of *Roe v. Wade*. We said that *Roe *is based on "a long line of precedent recognizing 'the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty' . . . against government interference with intensely personal decisions." I believe that a woman's right to choose is fundamental, *Roe *has been the law of the land for almost 50 years, and basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that it not be overturned.

Second, shortly after the enactment of Texas law S.B. 8 and other laws restricting women's reproductive rights, I directed my Gender Policy Council and White House Counsel's Office to prepare options for an administration response to the continued attack on abortion and reproductive rights, under a variety of possible outcomes in the cases pending before the Supreme Court. We will be ready when any ruling is issued.

Third, if the Court does overturn *Roe*, it will fall on our Nation's elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman's right to choose. And it will fall on voters to elect pro-choice officials this November. At the Federal level, we will need more pro-choice Senators and a pro- choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies *Roe*, which I will work to pass and sign into law.

Categories: Statements by the President : U.S. Supreme Court overruling 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, leak of draft.

Subjects: Elections : 2022 congressional elections; Health and medical care : Abortion; Judiciary

: Judicial review; Judiciary : Supreme Court :: U.S. Supreme Court opinion overruling 1973 Court decision in Roe v. Wade, leak of draft.

DCPD Number: DCPD202200346.

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