Protests and celebrations as Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade: Live updates

Florida man in custody after scaling D.C. bridge in support of abortion rights

Janhvi Bhojwani

48m ago / 7:49 PM UTC

A Florida man was taken into custody Saturday after he scaled the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., Friday morning and stayed overnight in support of abortion rights, NBC Washington reported .

Guido Reichstadter, 42, of Miami, climbed the bridge at 9:30 a.m. Friday, shortly before the Supreme Court's landmark decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was reported.

He has been documenting his stunt on Twitter and TikTok, where his posts and videos have amassed thousands of views.

In a phone interview with NBC News while on the bridge Friday, Reichstadter said he had planned to stay put as long as he was physically able.

"I have the duty to try and do everything I can to stand up for my daughter's rights," Reichstadter said.

Details on charges were not immediately available.

7 windows broken at Vermont Statehouse after abortion ruling, police say

Police at the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier say the building was vandalized early Saturday when seven windows were broken and a message painted outside the main door reacting to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that overturned a constitutional right to abortion .

Police say the vandalism took place at around 2 a.m. Saturday. The message painted on the granite portico said "If abortions aren't safe you're not either."

The Capitol Police estimated damage was in excess of $25,000. The Statehouse had been expected to open Saturday for its summer tour, but that has been postponed. The Statehouse is now scheduled to open on Monday morning.

Read the full story here.

Tear gas deployed, memorials damaged as 8,000 converge on Arizona State Capitol, officials say

Corky Siemaszko

1h ago / 7:26 PM UTC

What began as a peaceful protest late Friday by nearly 8,000 people outside the state capitol building "evolved in anarchical and criminal actions by masses of splinter groups," the Arizona Department of Public Safety reported Saturday .

"As groups realized the state legislature was in session, they attempted to breach the doors of the Arizona Senate and force their way into the building," the department said in a statement. "The violence of their efforts literally shook the building and terrified citizens and lawmakers who occupied the building."

State troopers deployed tear gas “due to the direct threat to the occupants of the Senate building and damage to the building itself,” according to the statement.

The department reported “significant criminal damage” to the Wesley Bolin Memorial Amphitheatre, the 158th Regimental Memorial, the Arizona Peace Officers Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Arizona Law Enforcement Canine Memorial, the Operation Enduring Freedom Memorial and the Lt. Frank Luke Jr. Memorial.

Authorities did not identify the "splinter groups," but extra state troopers were on hand as a anti-abortion rights group called Students for Life Action prepared to hold a celebration in the same spot, local media reported .

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson says she ‘can't understand U.S. way of protecting human rights’

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Saturday criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to roll back 50 years of federally protected abortion rights.

"This is how the US 'protects' #humanrights,” Hua Chunying tweeted , referencing an article from The Washington Post in which world leaders condemned the Supreme Court ruling. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called it "horrific,” while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the ruling was a “big step backwards."

“Can't understand US way of protecting human rights—think it necessary to protect the rights of an unborn child, but quite OK to tolerate the shooting of children in schools,” Hua tweeted Saturday.

The Supreme Court on Thursday expanded gun rights , ruling that Americans have a constitutional right to carry a gun outside the home. The decision came in the wake of multiple mass shootings, including one at a Texas elementary school .

China has been criticized by the international community for its own human rights record, including alleged abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic groups. In a May video call with U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said countries shouldn’t lecture others on human rights issues.

"On the issue of human rights, there is no perfect 'utopia,'" Xi was quoted as saying by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. "We don't need 'masters' that dictate to other countries, let alone politicizing and turning the human rights issue into a tool, practicing double standards and interference in the internal affairs of other countries under the pretext of human rights."

President Joe Biden doesn't support expanding Supreme Court, White House says

Despite two major blows from the Supreme Court over the past week, President Joe Biden does not support expanding the high court, the White House said Saturday.

"I know I've been asked, I was asked this question yesterday, and I've been asked it before … about … expanding the court," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One. "That is something that the President does not agree with. That is not something that he wants to do."

The Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade on Friday, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion. On Thursday, it struck down a New York law that required applicants for a concealed carry license to demonstrate a special need for self-defense.

"I think the Supreme Court has made some terrible decisions," Biden said when asked about those rulings by a reporter.

While Biden said during a presidential debate that he was "not a fan of court packing," he has not formally said he doesn't support expanding the court.

Women of color will be ‘disproportionately” affected by Supreme Court’s decision, Black physicians say

Rima Abdelkader

2h ago / 6:27 PM UTC

The National Medical Association and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association denounced the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, along with many other health care professionals .

The president of the National Medical Association, which represents African American physicians and their patients, said women of color and disadvantaged people will be "disproportionately impacted" by this decision and called the ruling "unconstitutional, dangerous and discriminatory.

"At a time when maternal mortality rates are worsening, particularly for Black women, it is deeply disappointing that our institutions are actively harming — not helping — women's health," Dr. Rachel Villanueva said .

The GLMA, which represents LGBTQ health care professionals, said Friday marked a "sad day" in U.S. history.

"In the short term, we must turn our attention to ensuring women, pregnant people, people of color, transgender youth, and all LGBTQ people receive the essential, medically necessary healthcare they need and deserve without interference from elected officials and judges," GMLA said in a statement .

Pelosi to colleagues: Supreme Court is ‘guilty of a miscarriage of justice’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Saturday decried the Supreme Court's ruling that eliminated the broadly supported constitutional right to abortion.

“Yesterday, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, it was guilty of a miscarriage of justice. It turned back the clock fifty years on freedom in America,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to Democratic colleagues.

Her letter recounted the story of Andrea Prudente , a Washington state resident who had an incomplete miscarriage while vacationing in Malta. Prudente’s condition made an abortion necessary to prevent a life-threatening infection, but because Malta outlaws abortions, she had to be flown to Spain. The story was first reported by The Associated Press.

“For all of these politicians — including the justices of the Supreme Court, who are so absolutist about a woman's reproductive health — what would they do if this story happened to their loved one?” Pelosi wrote to colleagues.

“We must and we will keep up the fight for health, safety and freedom — for women, for their families and for every American,” she said.

Pelosi delivered more searing remarks at a Friday news conference, where she suggested that Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices had lied during their confirmation hearings when they said they respected the precedent set by Roe v. Wade.

"Today, the Republican-controlled Supreme Court has achieved their dark, extreme goal of ripping away women's right to make their own reproductive health decisions," Pelosi said. "Because of Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, the Republican Party and their supermajority on the Supreme Court, American women today have less freedom than their mothers."

Rita Moreno says she worries Roe reversal could lead to women ‘going back’ to back-alley abortions

Oscar-winning actor Rita Moreno said she is "frightened" after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade , recalling how she underwent a botched abortion before it became legal in 1973.

Moreno, 90, told Variety that she learned she was pregnant while dating actor Marlon Brando. She said Brando arranged for her to see a doctor he found "through some friends."

"He was a real doctor — Marlon paid him $500 — as opposed to something in a back alley," she said.

After returning home, Moreno said she started bleeding and had to go to the hospital. She found out that the doctor had not correctly performed the abortion .

The “West Side Story” actor said she worries the court’s decision could lead to women “going back” to back-alley abortions.

“I'm really nervous and frightened and horrified that this is taking place,” she said. “I can't believe that some of those people are telling us what to do with our bodies.”

Read the full story here.

Minnesota governor issues executive order to ‘protect people’ traveling to his state for an abortion

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Saturday said he signed an executive order that provides protections for people traveling to his state for an abortion.

In one tweet , the Democratic governor wrote: “While abortion remains legal in Minnesota, Minnesota's neighboring states are expected to severely restrict reproductive freedom. That's why I signed an Executive Order to help protect people seeking or providing abortions in Minnesota from legal repercussions in other states.”

Walz added : “Your reproductive freedom will remain protected in Minnesota as long as I am in office.”

At a press conference on Saturday afternoon, Waltz said he would use all legal authority “to decline to extradite people who are charged under other states' laws that criminalize” abortion, including people who help family members in other states seek abortions. Under the executive order, Minnesota agencies are also prohibited from aiding an investigation that might penalize someone for seeking an abortion, he added.

Walz said it was an “abomination” that his “beautiful, intelligent, vibrant, headstrong” daughter “is now thrown back to a time that her mother never had to experience and worrying about what this means, imagining that a rapist has more rights than she does.”

Other Minnesota state leaders echoed those sentiments on Saturday.

"This is no longer a drill,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar said. “It is really happening and we are in a situation right now where my daughter has less rights than I had growing up, or even her grandma."

Klobuchar also expressed concern about future Supreme Court decisions, given the concurring opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas on Friday, which suggested that the court "reconsider" previous landmark rulings .

"If you read justice Thomas's concurring opinion, you actually see the roadmap that he wants to take us down, which is a roadmap of looking again at even the right to contraception and gay marriage,” Klobuchar said.

Medical group calls Roe v. Wade decision ‘irresponsible’

Rima Abdelkader

3h ago / 5:20 PM UTC

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists condemned the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in a statement on Friday. It argued the decision would lead to more inequities for health care in the United States.

"The impact of this irresponsible decision will fall disproportionately on people who already face barriers accessing health care, including people of color, those living in rural areas, and those without ample financial resources," the group said in the statement.

The professional group, which represents about 60,000 members who provide obstetric and gynecologic care, said it would continue to support its members, partners and anyone fighting restrictions that inhibit physician-patient care and health care access.

"This decision, which has been foreshadowed for many months, confirms that this is a dark and dangerous time for the women and doctors of America," it stated.

‘They got their way’: Last abortion clinic in N.D. moving across state lines

"They got their way": Last abortion clinic in N.D. moving across state lines

June 25, 2022 05:08

Rhode Island Senate candidate allegedly punched by her police officer opponent at abortion rights rally

Jennifer Rourke, a Democratic candidate for the Rhode Island state Senate, said she was punched in the face Friday evening by her Republican opponent, off-duty police Officer Jeann Lugo, at an abortion rights rally in Providence.

The rally was organized by The Womxn Project, a nonprofit organization that advocates for reproductive choice, among other issues. Rourke is a board member and spoke at the rally . Later that evening, conflict seemed to escalate among the crowd of hundreds of protesters gathered at the Rhode Island State House.

“This is what it is to be a Black woman running for office. I won't give up,” Rourke tweeted Saturday, sharing a video of her getting punched.

The Providence Police Department tweeted Saturday that it was “criminally investigating the behavior of an off duty officer last evening during a protest where a female was assaulted.”

The officer was placed on administrative leave with pay on Saturday morning, the department said, “pending a criminal investigation and administrative review.”

Police, in a later tweet , identified the officer as Lugo.

Lugo did not deny that he punched Rourke.

"As an officer that swore to protect and serve our communities, I, unfortunately, saw myself in a situation that no individual should see themselves in," he told The Boston Globe . "I stepped in to protect someone that a group of agitators was attacking."

Threats of political violence ‘likely to intensify’ after Roe v. Wade overturned, Homeland Security warns

Threats of political violence, particularly against judges and state officials, are likely to intensify after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade , according to a Homeland Security Department memo.

An official familiar with the matter confirmed the memo's existence to NBC News.

"Americans' freedom of speech and right to peacefully protest are fundamental Constitutional rights," a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said. "Those rights do not extend to violence and other illegal activity. DHS will continue working with our partners across every level of government to share timely information and to support law enforcement efforts to keep our communities safe."

The latest warning comes weeks after another from Homeland Security. In that bulletin, the agency said it expected "the threat environment to become more dynamic as several high-profile events could be exploited to justify acts of violence against a range of possible targets."

Demonstrators hit the streets for a second day after Roe reversal

There appeared to be no letup Saturday as Americans infuriated by the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade hit the streets for a second day of mass protests.

From Washington, D.C., where on Friday the court’s conservative majority swept aside a half-century of legal precedent to do away with the law, to the West Coast, angry, raucous protests erupted against a ruling that obliterated the constitutional right to abortion, immediately making it all but impossible to obtain an abortion in more than 20 states.

Those protests were at times met with counterprotests by anti-abortion rights activists elated by the ruling and determined to stop abortions from happening everywhere in the country.

Read the full story here.

Abortion rights activists offer suggestions on how to fight for reproductive freedoms

Abortion rights activists offer suggestions on how to fight for reproductive freedoms

June 25, 2022 07:28

Abortion ruling will have global impact, health organizations warn

The Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade will have lasting repercussions for women's rights across the world, medical associations and rights providers warned.

Criminalizing abortions would not prevent them, but make them more deadly, a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday. "A staggering 45% of all abortions around the world are unsafe, making this a leading cause of maternal death," a statement by the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency read.

The World Health Organization also tweeted Friday that access to safe abortion care was "essential" and removing it would "put more women and girls at risk of illegal abortions and the consequent safety issues that would bring."

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted that he was "concerned and disappointed" by the ruling. He said it reduced both "women's rights and access to health care."

The move was also described as a "catastrophic blow to the lives of millions of women, girls and pregnant people," in a statement signed by more than 100 global health organizations, including the World Association of Trainees in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

The ruling has also garnered national attention in China, where a hashtag — U.S. Supreme Court cancels constitutional right to abortion — has been viewed by more than 620 million people on the microblogging platform Weibo .

Read the full story here.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Tina Smith: ‘We need action, and we need it now’

Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tina Smith of Minnesota on Saturday urged President Joe Biden to “declare a public health emergency” to protect abortion access following the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling.

In an op-ed published in The New York Times , they said the Supreme Court decision to end the constitutional right to abortion has brought the country to “a perilous time that threatens millions of women across this nation.”

The two senators are among the more than 20 Senate Democrats who, earlier this month, sent a letter to Biden outlining executive actions he could take to protect reproductive freedom, including providing federal resources and protection for individuals seeking abortion care.

In their opinion piece, Smith and Warren proposed changing the court’s composition, reforming Senate filibuster rules and remaking the Electoral College, which they say allowed presidential candidates who lost the popular vote to nominate the five justices who eventually voted to overturn Roe. Smith has introduced a bill aimed at codifying abortion pill access.

Read the full story here.

French lawmakers want to inscribe abortion rights into country's constitution

French President Emmanuel Macron's party will propose a bill to inscribe abortion rights into the country's constitution, according to the statement by two members of parliament Saturday.

The right to abortion in France is already inscribed in a 1975 law relating to the voluntary termination of pregnancy within the legal framework that decriminalized abortion.

A constitutional law will cement abortion rights for future generations, said Marie-Pierre Rixain, a member of parliament and of Macron's Republic on the Move party.

"What happened elsewhere must not happen in France," Rixain said.

The bill will include a provision that would make it "impossible to deprive a person of the right to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy," according to the statement, released by the two members of the National Assembly, France's most powerful house of parliament.

Read the full story here.

WWE veteran Glenn Jacobs, aka Kane, draws fire over his support for abortion ruling

Three-time WWE world champion Glenn Jacobs, known as the horror-themed sadistic wrestler Kane, was slammed on social media over his fierce support of the Supreme Court abortion ruling.

Jacobs, who is the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, expressed his support in a tweet , saying it “clears the way” for states to “pass stronger protection for the unborn.”

Wrestling fans sharply rebuked his tweet, asking WWE to never have him return to the ring, while some called him a hypocrite. In January, he had tweeted , “Your health decisions should be between you and your doctor – not mandated down from a bureaucrat in Washington.”

Biden says Supreme Court has made ‘some terrible decisions’

A day after the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, eliminating a woman's constitutional right to abortion, President Joe Biden criticized the nation’s highest court.

"I think the Supreme Court has made some terrible decisions," he said when asked Saturday about the Roe ruling and another striking down a New York law that required showing a special need to get a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public.

Biden made the comments moments after signing into law legislation aimed at preventing gun violence.

Billie Eilish and Phoebe Bridgers blast abortion ruling at U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival

Singers Billie Eilish and Phoebe Bridgers condemned the Supreme Court’s decision during their sets at the Glastonbury Festival on Friday night.

"It's about the concept of power and how we need to always remember not to abuse it," Eilish said to her audience at Worthy Farm, introducing her hit song "Your Power."

"And today is a really, really dark day for women in the U.S., and I'm just going to say that because I can't bear to think about it at this moment," she said.

"Sidelines" singer Phoebe Bridgers said that even though the festival was "super surreal and fun," she was having a bad day, before leading the crowd into an expletive-laden chant against the Supreme Court.

The 'abortion pill' may treat dozens of diseases, but Roe reversal might upend research

Dr. Nancy Klimas has spent the better part of her three-decade research career trying to find a cure for Gulf War illness. Military veterans with the unusual, unexplained illness — which affects some 300,000 U.S. service members who fought in the 1991 Operation Desert Storm — suffer from a range of symptoms, including constant aches and pains, trouble concentrating, fatigue, respiratory issues and irritable bowel syndrome, all understood to stem from exposure to neurotoxic chemicals during combat.

Apart from symptom management — which she says is really just "chasing the tail of the dog" — there's no treatment for Gulf War illness. And the clock is ticking: According to Klimas, director of the Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine at Nova Southeastern University in Florida, the condition could turn into severe neurodegenerative disease if left untreated.

Now, with a clinical trial for male veterans she's launching at the Miami Veterans Affairs Hospital, she hopes help will finally come. The study is testing out a combination of two drugs, both already approved by the Food and Drug Administration for different uses.

One is etanercept, or Enbrel, a drug for arthritis. The other is mifepristone — better known as the abortion pill .

If the clinical trial is successful, it could be the first step toward bringing these veterans some relief, Klimas hopes. But now that the Supreme Court has overturned the legal right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade , researchers studying mifepristone for uses other than abortion could face their own set of challenges.

Read the full story here.

Athletes react to abortion decision

U.S. national soccer team star Megan Rapinoe expressed her anger Friday over the Supreme Court's decision to strip the nation's constitutional protection for abortion, decrying an erosion of rights that women have had for a generation.

"I think the cruelty is the point because this is not pro life by any means," said Rapinoe, who was close to tears at times as she expressed her outrage.

The always outspoken Rapinoe was joined by some of the country's leading sports figures in publicly sharing their dismay, anger and concern after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a woman's constitutional right to abortion.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James tweeted that the ruling was about " power and control," and he retweeted a couple posts about the effect of the decision on Black women.

In a joint statement, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the leagues "believe that women should be able to make their own decisions concerning their health and future, and we believe that freedom should be protected."

Tear gas used during protests outside Arizona Senate building

Phil Helsel

12h ago / 8:35 AM UTC

Law enforcement officers used tear gas during protests outside the Arizona Senate building in Phoenix after part of a door was broken, the state Department of Public Safety said.

"Earlier tonight a crowd of protesters were pounding on the glass doors of the Senate Building. Part of a door was broken. Tear gas was deployed," department spokesman Bart Graves said in an email.

Gas was used a second time after monuments were allegedly vandalized at a nearby plaza, he said.

There were no arrests, he said.

The Arizona Senate GOP, which is the majority party, tweeted that the Senate was secure but that gas had entered the chambers and that it was making other arrangements. The Senate session later resumed and was ongoing Friday night.

Pedestrian hit by a truck during Iowa protest

A truck hit a person in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday evening, where people were marching after the Supreme Court decision.

Cedar Rapids police said, citing preliminary investigations, that a group of protesters was legally crossing the street in front of the U.S. District Court federal courthouse when the traffic lights changed.

After a confrontation between the protesters and a driver, a truck "made contact" with a pedestrian, police said.

The pedestrian had injuries that appeared minor, and was taken to a hospital for evaluation, according to police.

Both the driver and pedestrian were interviewed by police. No additional information was released.

Video shows people attempting to stop the truck outside the courthouse.

St. Louis conservatives and progressives meet at clinic

Dennis Romero

12h ago / 8:35 AM UTC

In St. Louis, demonstrators from the staunch right and progressive left both used a Planned Parenthood clinic as a gathering place Friday to mark the Supreme Court's Roe reversal.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey , the couple known for waving guns from their lawn at social justice demonstrators in 2020, celebrated Friday's ruling, according to NBC affiliate KSDK of St. Louis. Mark McCloskey is running for U.S. Senate in Missouri as a Republican.

Among the crowd at the clinic were members of Defenders of the Unborn. "I never thought I would see this day when Missouri would not kill its children," said the group's president, Mary Maschmeier.

U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, who represents the city as a Democrat, voiced frustration and anger about the court's ruling.

"They can strike down Roe v. Wade, but they can't strike down our voices," she told the crowd outside the clinic. "You have the people of St. Louis. We're going to care for one another."

She discussed the abortion she had after she was raped at age 17 . She said that without the procedure, she would have been forced to give birth to a child, "I was not ready for, that I could not provide for."

After her speech, demonstrators chanted, "My body, my choice."

The Planned Parenthood location in St. Louis had been the state's only abortion provider. Missouri's trigger law took effect Friday, making abortion a felony.