June 25 Roe v. Wade news

During a news conference Saturday afternoon on the steps of Washington state’s capitol building, Gov. Jay Inslee vowed to make Washington a “sanctuary state” for reproductive choice for people across the country, regardless of abortion bans existing in other states. 

Inslee announced an upcoming executive order that will direct state police not to comply with any possible extradition efforts from other states seeking to penalize those who travel to Washington to receive an abortion. 

Inslee also called for legislation to codify the right to abortion into state law as an amendment to Washington’s constitution. 

Inslee said he is promising a $1 million down payment to start subsidizing reproductive healthcare networks across the state ahead of an anticipated influx of patients. 

Personnel and medical equipment will need to be “amped up,” he said, adding that he’s “relatively confident” these resources will be available. 

Inslee, as well as Dr. Erin Berry, Washington’s medical director for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest – were questioned about how Washington’s healthcare infrastructure will withstand the strain of possible patient overload. 

Inslee did not specify when the executive order will be released. 

Health care experts fear that with Roe v. Wade overturned, potential widespread abortion bans will deepen the United States’ maternal mortality crisis. Providers told CNN they worry that reducing access to abortion — by closing clinics, setting early gestational limits or outlawing the procedure altogether — may lead to more pregnancy-related deaths in the United States.

Rates of pregnancy-related deaths in the US are the highest in the developed world and have risen steadily over time, with Black women three times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than White women. The CDC recently reported that the rate of pregnancy-related deaths increased from 20.1 in 2019 to 23.8 in 2020, continuing a worrying trend of worsening maternal health outcomes for people in the United States.

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, 26 states are poised to ban abortion through pre-existing bans or “trigger laws” that will now go into effect without the landmark ruling no longer in place. As a result, more than 10 million people of reproductive age would have to cross state lines to access the procedure in the nearest state where it is legal, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy institute that supports legal abortion rights.

Maternal mortality rates are already high in those states certain or likely to ban abortion — 47% higher than the national rate, according to a CNN analysis of 2018 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most recent available.

Overall, states with the most restrictive abortion laws had a 7% higher maternal mortality rate than states with fewer restrictions, according to a 2021 study in the American Journal of Public Health.

States that restricted abortion based on gestational limits saw a steep rise in the maternal mortality rate by 38%, according to a 2020 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. A 20% reduction in Planned Parenthood clinics in a state between 2007-2015 resulted, on average, in an increase in the state’s maternal mortality rates by 8%.

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In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, some have pointed to past statements justices have made while nominees regarding abortion during their confirmation hearings.

In 2020, then-SCOTUS nominee Amy Coney Barrett was asked by Sen. Amy Klobuchar about an article in which she referred to "super precedent."

Then-nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 also said Roe v. Wade was an “important precedent.”

In 2017, Neil Gorsuch said that "it has been reaffirmed many times."

"Part of being a good judge is coming in and taking precedent as it stands. And your personal views about the precedent have absolutely nothing to do with the good job of a judge," he said.

In 2006, nominee Samuel Alito called Roe v. Wade “a precedent that has now been on the books for several decades.”

Back in 1991, Clarence Thomas said, "I have no reason or agenda to prejudge the issue or ... predisposed to rule one way or the another on the issue of abortion."

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Minnesota’s governor issued an executive order Saturday providing protections for people coming to Minnesota for reproductive healthcare from states where abortion is illegal or criminalized, according to a release from Gov. Tim Walz’s office. 

With the executive order, Walz joined fellow Democratic governors who hurriedly took legislative or legal action in response to the US Supreme Court’s overruling of Roe v. Wade, CNN has reported. 

Several other states also had “trigger bans,” which either totally or partially restricted abortion access automatically with the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.

In the release, Walz said his office will protect people from such states who are traveling to Minnesota for an abortion “to the fullest extent of their lawful authority.”

Walz’s executive order also directs state agencies to work to protect Minnesotans providing, seeking or obtaining lawful reproductive health care services, according to the release. 

According to the release, the order is effective immediately. 

CNN’s Kate Conerly contributed to this report

President Biden does not favor expanding the Supreme Court and hasn't changed his stance on eliminating the filibuster, the White House said Saturday, throwing cold water on steps some liberal Democrats have called for in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling stripping the nationwide right to abortion.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden does not agree with calls for court expansion, affirming the stance the President held as a candidate remains in place, even as he's skirted the issue more recently.

While running for president, Biden said he was "not a fan" of expanding the court. Later, he deferred to a commission he established to examine various options for court reform.

The commission issued a final report in December, but it doesn't contain any recommendations, only analysis of various options. And Biden has not signaled any intent to act on the ideas since then.

That will prove disappointing to activists, who have renewed calls for expanding the court in the wake of Friday's decision. 

Similarly, Jean-Pierre offered little indication Biden had altered his stance on eliminating the filibuster — even if the Senate gained more Democrats who favor those steps.

"I don't think the filibuster will play a role there," she said, suggesting instead that electing more Democratic members to Congress was the principal objective.

Biden has opposed an outright elimination of the legislative filibuster, but has backed certain reforms. But even some Democrats have opposed changes, making any type of reform unlikely.

President Joe Biden “is going to continue to find solutions” to ensure abortion rights, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Saturday, though she declined to offer details on potential executive actions the administration is weighing to do so.

"There’s been a lot of urgency from this President and from this White House on the next steps of this, especially now that we know that the decision was made yesterday,” Jean-Pierre told reporters traveling on Air Force One Saturday, highlighting “powerful, passionate remarks” from Biden at the White House Friday. 

The press secretary cited two “concrete steps” from the White House immediately following Friday’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, highlighting the administration’s move to guarantee access to abortion pills and defend the right of a woman to travel to another state to receive an abortion if the procedure is outlawed in her home state.

Biden earlier Saturday called the SCOTUS decision "painful and devastating," adding that the Supreme Court has made "some terrible decisions."

A pedestrian was injured by a truck while trying to legally cross the street in front of the federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, during Friday evening’s Roe v. Wade protests in the city, according to Cedar Rapids Police. 

Video of the incident shows a truck appearing to push through a group of protesters, with one person falling to the ground after making contact with the vehicle. 

Police said a preliminary investigation showed a group of protesters was “attempting to legally cross the street” in front of the courthouse around 7:17 p.m. local time, when the traffic light changed, giving the intersection’s right of way to vehicles.

Police said “verbal confrontations” took place between the protesters and a driver, and “contact was made” between the vehicle and one of the protesters. Cedar Rapids Police responded to the scene.

The injured pedestrian was interviewed by officers on-scene and then taken to a local hospital for evaluation in a private car. According to police, the protester appeared to have minor injuries.  

The driver of the vehicle was also “voluntarily interviewed” by law enforcement, police said.  

Cedar Rapids police are working to obtain any potential surveillance video of the incident, and more information will be made available when possible, the release said. So far, no one has been arrested in connection with this incident.

Protests surrounding the SCOTUS decision have been largely peaceful.

Here's a look at how news organizations across the US covered the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade — including those from states with immediate "trigger bans" like Kentucky and Louisiana — as seen on front pages this morning.

Several abortion providers in Arizona — Family Planning Associates, Planned Parenthood Arizona, and Tucson Choices — said they have preemptively paused abortion services due to a lack of legal clarity, according to posts on their websites.

Dr. DeShawn Taylor, who operates Desert Star Family Planning in Phoenix, said her clinic had to cancel about 20 abortion appointments originally scheduled for today through next week.

Arizona does not have a "trigger ban" but does have a ban on abortions past 15 weeks set to take effect in approximately 90 days. Meanwhile, the Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus issued a memo today, stating effective immediately, Arizona is to enforce “pre-Roe law. The law, already on the books, bans most abortions, unless the procedure is necessary to save the life of a mother.”

This pre-Roe law was first created in 1901 before Arizona statehood and was updated last year. It states anyone with intent to procure the miscarriage of a woman, “unless it is necessary to save her life, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than two years nor more than five years.”

Brittni Thomason, spokesperson for the Arizona Attorney General’s office, gave CNN a statement, saying: “We understand this is an important issue for so many people, and they are seeking clarity.”

The Arizona governor’s office declined to comment.

“I’m surprised at how heartbroken I feel when I knew it in my bones” the ruling would be coming, Taylor said.

She said she hopes not only to secure women’s right to an abortion but to secure real and meaningful access to abortions in Arizona, where there are a handful of clinics providing such services, mostly in urban areas.