Madrid (AFP) – President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the Supreme Court’s decision Ending a constitutional right to abortion is “destabilizing,” but he asserted that the ruling does not affect the United States’ standing on the world stage, taking credit for modernizing the transatlantic alliance to adapt to new threats from Russia and China.
Biden was speaking to reporters at the conclusion of a five-day foreign trip to gather with NATO allies In Madrid and the leaders of the Group of Seven The advanced democratic economies of the Bavarian Alps, which came as the nation was still grappling with the fallout from Friday’s Supreme Court ruling.
“America is in a better position to lead the world than we have ever been,” Biden said. “But one thing that has been destabilizing is the outrageous behavior of the United States Supreme Court in overturning not only Roe v. Wade, but fundamentally challenging the right to privacy.”
“I can understand why the American people are frustrated by what the Supreme Court has done,” he added.
Biden said he would support changing the Senate’s stalling rules, which require 60 votes to pass most legislation, to allow a bill expanding nationwide abortion protections to be passed by a simple majority, even though Democrats don’t have enough votes in the Senate to do so.
The three-day NATO summit included the Biden administration’s announcement of plans to permanently strengthen the US military presence in European agreement between Turkey, Finland and Sweden to pave the way for the northern countries’ accession to NATO, and the alliance modernizing its strategic concept reflects that China’s “coercive policies” are a challenge to the interests of the Western bloc.
“I think we can all agree that this was the historic NATO summit,” Biden said.
He noted that the last time NATO updated what is essentially its mission statement was 12 years ago, when Russia was described as a partner, and the document didn’t even mention China. The new document reached at the summit changes that.
“The world has changed, and a lot has changed since then,” Biden said. “This summit was about strengthening our alliances, meeting the challenges of our world as it is today, and the threats we will face in the future,” Biden said.
Biden also highlighted the announcements made at the G7 meeting, including more economic and military aid to Ukraine as it aims to fend off Russia’s four-month-old invasion, and announcements of tougher sanctions aimed at punishing Moscow.
“We stick to Ukraine and the whole alliance will stick to Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Biden said. “I don’t know how it will end, but it will not end with Russia’s defeat of Ukraine in Ukraine.”
“Coffee trailblazer. Certified pop culture lover. Infuriatingly humble gamer.”
