Biden calls Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade ‘destabilizing’

President Biden on Thursday called the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which eliminated the nearly 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion, a destabilizing factor for the U.S.

“The one thing that has been destabilizing is the outrageous behavior of the Supreme Court of the United States and overruling, not only Roe v. Wade, but essentially challenging the right to privacy. We’ve been a leader in the world in terms of personal rights, and privacy rights, and it is a mistake, in my view, for the Supreme Court to do what it did,” Biden said at a press conference in Spain.

He pushed back on a question that allies who participated with him in the NATO meeting think the U.S. is going in the wrong direction.

“They do not think that. You haven’t found one person, one world leader to say America is going backward. America is better positioned to lead the world than we ever have been. We have the strongest economy in the world, our inflation rates are lower than other nations in the world,” Biden said.

“But I have not seen anyone come up to me, do anything other than — nor have you heard them say anything other than ‘thank you for America’s leadership. You’ve changed the dynamic of NATO and the G-7,’” he added, referring to the Group of Seven.

World leaders have had an array of comments since the ruling last Friday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called overturning Roe v. Wade a “backward step,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the overturning of Roe “horrific” and French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that “abortion is a fundamental right for all women.”

Biden on Thursday also called for Congress to codify Roe v. Wade. He has called for voters to elect pro-abortion rights candidates in the upcoming midterm elections and said that the ruling on Friday doesn’t mean the fight is over.

He said in the press conference that he would support changing the filibuster rules to codify abortion rights.

The president also reiterated his stance that the U.S. is in a better position to combat inflation than other nations. 

“So, I can understand why the American people are frustrated because of what the Supreme Court did. I can understand why the American people are frustrated because of inflation,” he said. “But inflation is higher in almost every other country, prices at the pump are higher in almost any other country. We’re better positioned to deal with this than anyone.”

Biden will return to Washington following the press conference, which wrapped up his participation in the G-7 summit in Germany and the NATO meeting in Spain.