White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to share any steps President Joe Biden is taking to help “cool passions” ahead of a Supreme Court decision that could lead to Roe v. Wade being overturned.
During a press briefing on Monday, RealClearNews’ Philip Wegmann noted that a crisis pregnancy center in Oregon was firebombed, and that comes after a man was arrested after allegedly plotting to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
He asked, “Is there anything that the president is doing to cool passions before the Dobbs decision drops?”
Jean-Pierre responded by talking about how the U.S. Marshals were “instrumental” in stopping the attempted murder.
Additionally, she noted that the White House condemned the incident.
But she did not share any steps Biden is taking to try to bring down the temperature in the country.
Watch the video below:
.@PhilipWegmann to KJP: "Over the wkend, a pregnancy crisis center in Oregon was firebombed. That's the 4th one…& then, last weekend…a would-be assassin was arrested outside the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh…Is there anything…the President is doing to cool passions[?]" pic.twitter.com/PC67qphQ2R
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 13, 2022
Politico reported in May that a draft opinion appeared to show the court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Since that report, there have been several instances of pro-life pregnancy centers being vandalized or subjected to arson.
Meanwhile, Biden has labeled the opinion “radical” and suggested that other rights such as same-sex marriage could be at risk. Justice Samuel Alito, who penned the draft opinion, suggested that the same-sex marriage decision would be upheld and that Roe is “sharply” distinguished from other cases because “abortion destroys” potential life.
The president also tossed out the idea that overturning Roe would open the door for states to pass laws “saying that children who are LGBTQ can’t be in classrooms with other children.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also raised concerns that other landmark decisions could be at risk.
Indeed as Harris said in a statement, “The rights of all Americans are at risk. If the right to privacy is weakened, every person could face a future in which the government can potentially interfere in the personal decisions you make about your life.”
And this comes after some Congressional Democrats have labeled the court’s conservative majority “illegitimate” and “stolen.”
Biden may think that the court is dead wrong in its opinion. But the decision will likely present him with a choice to be the civil and healing president he campaigned as, or a divisive one.
If the court overturns Roe, he can acknowledge the pain, fear, and frustration in the country, urge Americans to accept it as a legitimate ruling, lay out any steps his administration plans to take in response, and also try to bring the temperature down in this country. And he can use his voice and influence to urge activists to fight for abortion access in their states.
Or he can call the decision radical and criticize the justices for their ruling and maybe even call for an expansion of the court.
If Biden chooses the first route, he will deserve credit for standing up for the legitimacy of the court in the face of immense outrage and pressure from progressives.
