Shortly after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade and removed the federal right to abortion in America, Republican officials and politicians and conservative figures began reacting with glee.
Several referenced their belief in God – including one in a public press release – while at least one declared a holiday.
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad. Today, along with millions across Louisiana and America, I rejoice with my departed Mom and the unborn children with her in Heaven!” said Louisiana’s attorney general, Jeff Landry, in an official statement.
Louisiana’s abortion ban went into effect right after Roe was overturned. The law prohibits most abortions and makes providing them illegal. There is no exception for rape or incest, regardless of the female’s age, according to Nola.com.
The exceptions include an extreme risk of death or potential for disability. State lawmakers previously voted to criminalize internet or mail-based purchase of abortion pills, the website said.
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton relished the Roe decision, similarly invoking his religion.
“Scotus just overruled Roe and Casey, ending one of the most morally and legally corrupt eras in US history. Praise the Lord.”
“Abortion is now illegal in Texas,” Paxton tweeted. “And today I’m closing my office – and making it an annual holiday – as a memorial to the 70 million lives lost bc of abortion.”
In South Dakota, where a trigger law has now made all abortions illegal “unless there is appropriate and reasonable medical judgment that performance of an abortion is necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant female”.
Governor Kristi Noem also invoked religion in praising the court decision.
“We have prayed for this day, and now it’s here,” Noemi said on Twitter, also announcing a special legislative session later this year purportedly “to save lives and help mothers”.
Former vice-president Mike Pence reacted to the decision by saying: “Today, life won.
“By overturning Roe v Wade, the supreme court of the United States has given the American people a new beginning for life and I commend the justices in the majority for having the courage of their convictions,” he said on Twitter.
“By returning the question of abortion to the states and the people, this supreme court has righted a historic wrong, and reaffirmed to right of the American people to govern themselves at the state level in a manner consistent with their values and aspirations.”
Pence also used the decision as a call to action for a nation-wide ban on abortion. “Having been given this second chance for life, we must not rest and must not relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the center of American law in every state in the land,” he said.
In Oklahoma, which has the US’s most restrictive abortion ban, governor Kevin Stitt said, “I am very excited that the supreme court made this courageous decision.” Stitt, echoing many Republicans’ views that abortion will be banned elsewhere, also said, “I’m looking forward to the rest of the country following Oklahoma’s lead to protect life.”
Oklahoma’s attorney general, John O’Connor, said, “This is truly a day for celebration and Thanksgiving.”
Far-right Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green posted a video with Tennessee congressman Tim Burchett, with the caption, “We are rejoicing on Capitol Hill!”
“We’re just so thankful for the brave supreme court justices and President Trump for nominating them and putting them on the supreme court, so this day could finally come,” she said in the video posted to Twitter.
“I couldn’t be happier, couldn’t be happier,” Burchett said.
“Our hearts are full,” Greene also said, thanking everyone who “prayed and protested and written letters and just everything that you’ve always done.”
Greene urged supporters, “Don’t give up the fight … Don’t forget, there are states like New York that have laws to kill babies up until the day of birth – those are the places that we need to really do the work.”
