President Obama marked the 43rd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling making abortions legal across the country by pledging to continue working to protect the right.
The decision giving women the right to end early pregnancies, he said, affirmed a “woman’s freedom to make her own choices about her body and her health” and “supports the broader principle that the government should not intrude on private decisions made between a woman and her doctor.”
In commemorating the day, the president also pledged to “redouble our commitment to protecting these constitutional rights, including protecting a woman’s access to safe, affordable health care and her right to reproductive freedom from efforts to undermine or overturn them.”
“In America, every single one of us deserves the rights, freedoms, and opportunities to fulfill our dreams,” he said.
Obama issued the statement the same day thousands of abortion opponents converged in Washington for the March for Life, an annual event aimed at reducing the number of abortions performed in the country and eventually overturning Roe v. Wade.
Organizers said they were pushing ahead with the event despite the blizzard conditions expected to begin in Washington Friday afternoon.
“We are very concerned for people’s safety and want to be cautious,” said Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life. “However, the pro-life community is also concerned for the safety and well-being of the innocent, unborn in the womb.”
“The movement to end abortion in this country is bigger than us and it is bigger than a weather event,” she continued. “This is a cause that is worth our best efforts and dedication.”
