Hillary Clinton says overturning Roe v. Wade puts US in line with Taliban, Iranian ayatollahs
Overturning the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, allowing states to regulate abortion without federal interference, has made America comparable to Iran’s ayatollahs and Afghanistan’s Taliban, Hillary Clinton claimed at a women’s rights summit.
At the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Friday, interviewer Christiane Amanpour asked the former secretary of state about women’s rights being “unfinished business.”
“We have come a long way on so many fronts but we are also in a period of time where there is a lot of pushback and much of the progress that has been taken for granted by too many people is under attack: literally under attack in places like Iran or Afghanistan or Ukraine — where rape is a tactic of war — or under attack by political and cultural forces in a country like our own when it comes to women’s healthcare and bodily autonomy,” Clinton said, according to National Review.
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Clinton was referring to the Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade, concluding that there is no constitutional right to an abortion, in June.
Fox News further quoted her as saying, “It’s so shocking to think that in any way we’re related to poor Afghanistan and Sudan. But as an advanced economy as we allegedly are, on this measure, we, unfortunately, are rightly put with them. … This struggle is between autocracy and democracy from our country to places we can’t even believe we’re being compared to.”
Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, responded to Clinton’s remarks by tweeting, “Please, please don’t listen to this evil woman. Her lies and immorality need to be silenced for the good of humanity.”
After the overturning of Roe, former first lady Michelle Obama said she was "heartbroken" by the decision.
Progressive lawmaker Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., tweeted, “Overturning Roe and outlawing abortions will never make them go away. It only makes them more dangerous, especially for the poor + marginalized. People will die because of this decision. And we will never stop until abortion rights are restored in the United States of America.”
While the country awaited a decision by the high court, Politico released a leaked draft opinion in a report published May 2, which indicated that the justices were likely to overturn Roe.
The draft opinion was written in February and authored by Justice Samuel Alito, suggesting the court would rule 5-4 in favor of overturning Roe and allowing states to decide whether to ban abortion.
Although Politico pointed out that the draft could change considerably by the time it was released, the news nevertheless sparked several protests and incidents of vandalism and arson targeting churches and pro-life offices.
Protests were held outside the homes of the justices who had signed on to the draft opinion, prompting calls for law enforcement to increase security for Supreme Court justices.
A man was arrested near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh at the time. The man intended to kill the Supreme Court justice over the likely overturning of Roe but instead turned himself over to authorities once he got near Kavanaugh's home.
