While discussing economic issues in prepared remarks with reporters at the White House on Wednesday, President Joe Biden delved into other subject matters, including the Supreme Court’s draft opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that was leaked earlier this week.
That draft opinion, written by conservative Justice Samuel Alito, stated that the court was set to overturn abortion protections recognized in the 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade. Although such draft rulings do not necessarily reflect what the court will eventually rule on any given issue, according to sources speaking with Politico, as of this week, five of the court’s conservative bloc of justices (composing a majority of the court overall) were prepared to back the ruling.
The official ruling of the court is set to be released sometime in the next month or so.
Biden blasted that finding, expressing concern that other rights recognized by the Supreme Court over the past several decades could also be at risk of being dismantled, resulting in discrimination against several groups of people.
“This is about a lot more than abortion,” Biden said.
He added:
What happens if you have states change the law saying that children who are LGBTQ can’t be in classrooms with other children. Is that legit under the way the decision is written?
Biden’s concerns have been echoed by other lawmakers, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), who earlier this week also said LGBTQ protections — including marriage equality, an issue the Supreme Court decided on just seven years ago — could be at risk of being undone.
“As we’ve warned, SCOTUS isn’t just coming for abortion – they’re coming for the right to privacy Roe rests on, which includes gay marriage + civil rights,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Tuesday.
Biden is calling on Congress to pass legislation to codify abortion protections. In discussing the issue further, however, Biden wouldn’t say whether he would support changes to the filibuster in order to codify the protections recognized in Roe.
When asked for his stance on the Senate rule, Biden told reporters he was “not prepared” to make a decision on whether the filibuster should be removed in order to preserve abortion rights throughout the country.
In addition to his commentaries on the economy and the Supreme Court, Biden also took aim at the Republican Party, disparaging them for continuing to allow former President Donald Trump to have a hold on them and determining the direction of the party.
“This MAGA crowd” — referencing Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” — “is really the most extreme political organization that’s existed in American history, in recent American history,” Biden said.
The president mentioned social and economic agendas from GOP lawmakers, including Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-Florida) 11-point plan that includes tax increases on Americans earning low incomes.
“Senator Rick Scott of Florida … released what he calls the ultra-MAGA agenda. It’s a MAGA agenda all right,” Biden derisively said. “Let me tell you about this ultra-MAGA agenda. It’s extreme, as most MAGA things are.”
He went on, stating that Republicans today were a “different breed of cat” from those he’s worked with in his nearly 50-year career in Washington, D.C.
“They’re not like what I served with for so many years,” the president said. “And the people who know better are afraid to act correctly, because they know they’ll be primaried.”
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.