Roe v. Wade: How they’re reacting on social media

With the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision released Friday, overturning the right to get an abortion, reaction has been swift on social media.

Here’s what they’ve been saying:

Gov. Ron DeSantis seemed encouraged, saying the decision is an answer to prayers, and that “Florida will continue to defend its recently-enacted pro-life reforms against state court challenges ...”

Ex-President Barack Obama, among the first to weigh in, was less than thrilled.

Florida Agriculture commissioner Nikki Fried, who is running to be the Democratic nominee to try to unseat DeSantis, also weighed in Friday morning.

President Joe Biden said he was stunned.

However, cheers also came in quickly for the ruling.

Republican Rep. Chris Sprowls, the Florida Speaker of the House, was thrilled. He said he “will always continue to be unmovable on the need to protect unborn life.”

U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, was succinct in his support of the Supreme Court ruling.

The Archdiocese of Miami also weighed in with a statement from Archbishop Thomas Wenski.

A few groups used social media to publicize protests. Among those groups was Florida Planned Parenthood Action.

But mostly, social media was used to express opinions.

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., supported the Supreme Court decision. The Republican National Committee was also clearly in favor of Friday’s ruling.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio voiced his support.

Rubio released a statement that said, in part, “Today’s decision by the Supreme Court to allow states to regulate abortion was right constitutionally and morally. For nearly half a century, a nation founded on God-given rights denied those rights to its most vulnerable citizens and more than 63 million Americans never got the chance to pursue their dreams.

“But we must not only continue to take steps to protect the unborn, we must also do more to support mothers and their babies. I will soon introduce a bill to ensure we do everything we can to give every child the opportunity to fully access the promise of America.”

U.S. Rep Val Demings, D-Florida, who is challenging Rubio for his Senate seat, took the opposite side in her statement.

“The decision to strike down Roe v. Wade is downright dangerous and tragic. I’m sick and tired of our basic, fundamental right to privacy being politicized. Because of today’s ruling, women will be forced to put their lives on the line, victims of rape and incest will be forced into pregnancy, and we cannot say we control our own bodies in this country.

“Our daughters and granddaughters have lost a right we fought so hard to protect. But let me be clear: Despite today’s decision, this fight is far from over. In the U.S. Senate, I will stand up, speak out, and relentlessly fight for a woman’s right to choose her own destiny. We refuse to go back to allowing our personal decisions be made by politicians like Marco Rubio who has obsessively fought to ban abortions, even in cases of rape and incest.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., made her thoughts known on the ruling, saying, in part, “Six radical Supreme Court Justices have overturned nearly 50 years of precedent, stripping away the constitutional right to abortion.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the majority leader, was disappointed in the outcome.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, in a Facebook post, called the ruling a “grotesque, immoral decision.”

“A radical Supreme Court majority just made forced pregnancy the law of the land and turned women’s bodies into government property. Millions will face grim medical and financial hardships. This grotesque, immoral decision shreds women’s constitutional and human rights, showing just how far out of step these extremist Republicans and their judicial picks are with most Americans. This radical court majority holds gun rights as more sacred the women’s rights. We will not give up this fight, and we will not go back.”

The Florida Democratic Party issued a statement that said, in part, “Today’s decision by five Republican-appointed Justices severely restricts the freedom of millions of women to make deeply personal health care decisions and instead impose government interference in health care decisions between women, their doctors, family, and God.

“Florida Republicans Marco Rubio and Ron DeSantis are focused on banning abortion and basic freedoms when they should be trying to improve our economy, ensure that every American can find a good paying job, and make health care more affordable. They support draconian bans on reproductive health care without exceptions when a woman’s life is in danger or for victims of rape and incest. Today’s decision gives them the power to compel their dangerous political agenda at every level, including a possible ban on the use of contraceptives.”

Parkland activist David Hogg originally indicated that previously scheduled gun rights rallies at federal courthouses Friday could be used to protest recent bad decisions by the Supreme Court, including Thursday’s opinion that prevents gun restrictions in New York. But he later endorsed the Planned Parenthood rallies.

The League of Women Voters of Florida also urged people to take action, as did the Urban League of Broward County.

In an intersection of sports and politics, the player’s union for the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) also issued a tweet against the ruling.

U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., said the ruling could lead to a slippery slope of similar rulings.

The anticipation of Friday’s ruling saw people gathering relatively early outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.