WH Encourages ‘Peaceful Protests' Over Roe Opinion as Dems Schedule Vote to Codify Abortion Rights

Earlier this week, Politico published a leak of an initial draft majority opinion penned by US Justice Samuel Alito revealing that the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in favour of overruling the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade decision that essentially legalises abortion nationwide.

The White House has encouraged “peaceful protests” due to be held by a left-wing group in response to the US Supreme Court’s leaked draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, a 1973 ruling that stipulates that women have the right to get abortions as part of their right to privacy.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that President Joe Biden's message to anyone feeling outraged is that their best course of option “is participating in peaceful protest”.

She warned all those seeking to protest against “resorting to violence in any way, shape or form”, adding, “Ensure it's peaceful. Have your voice heard peacefully”.

Psaki said that she understands the public anger over the reports that the US’ top court may hold a final vote to undo Roe v. Wade.

“The president, for all those women, men, others who feel outraged, who feel scared, who feel concerned, he hears them, he shares that concern and that horror that he saw in that draft opinion. […] The president's view is that there's a lot of passion, a lot of fear, a lot of sadness, from many, many people across this country about what they saw in that leaked document,” Psaki said.

She warned all those seeking to protest against “resorting to violence in any way, shape or form”, adding, "Ensure it's peaceful. Have your voice heard peacefully”.

According to the White House secretary, “Peaceful protest is not extreme. We certainly encourage people to keep it peaceful and not resort to any level of violence.”

When asked whether Biden cared about protests near the Supreme Court justices’ homes, Psaki declined to discourage any residential protests, asserting that she doesn’t have “an official US government position on where people protest”. The White House secretary reiterated that Washington wants the protests “of course to be peaceful, and certainly the president would want people's privacy to be respected”.

“But I think we shouldn't lose the point here. The reason people are protesting is because women across the country are worried about their fundamental rights that have been law for 50 years, their rights to make choices about their own bodies and their own health care, are at risk. That's why people are protesting — they're unhappy, they're scared,” Psaki argued.

Earlier this week, the pro-abortion group Ruth Sent Us published the apparent home addresses of Justices Amy Coney Barrett, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, also announcing plans to dispatch demonstrators to “the homes of the six extremist justices” in Virginia and Maryland on 11 May.

“[…] If you’d like to join or lead a peaceful protest, let us know. […] Our 6-3 extremist Supreme Court routinely issues rulings that hurt women, racial minorities, LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights. We must rise up to force accountability using a diversity of tactics,” the group’s website states.

Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has, meanwhile, announced that lawmakers would vote next Wednesday on legislation that would codify Roe v. Wade into federal law.

Schumer claimed that Senate Republicans “spent years packing our [US] courts with right-wing judges”, saying “Will they now own up to the harm they’ve caused, or will they try to undo the damage? The vote next week will tell.”

He described next week’s vote as “one of the most important we ever take because it deals with one of the most personal and difficult decisions a woman ever has to make in her life”.

Speculation is rife that with a split 50-50 Senate, Schumer’s measure is highly unlikely to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster.