Abortion ruling a 'sad day' for America -Biden

STORY: From outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C,...

CHANTING: "We won't go back"

To the last abortion clinic in Mississippi...

DEMONSTRATOR: "Every individual here will stand before god..."

A shockwave across the nation Friday as the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that recognized a woman's constitutional right to an abortion, handing a momentous victory to Republicans and religious conservatives who have fought for decades to ban the procedure.

BIDEN: "It just stuns me."

President Joe Biden condemned the ruling, calling it a "sad day" for America.

"The court has done what it's never done before -- expressly taken away a constitutional right that is so fundamental to so many Americans."

In a 6-3 ruling powered by its conservative majority, the court upheld a Republican-backed Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Five justices voted to overturn Roe.

Conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the Roe decision to allow abortions was wrong because the US Constitution does not specifically mention abortion rights.

Justice Clarence Thomas went further, urging the court to reconsider past rulings protecting the right to birth control, legalizing same-sex marriage, and invalidating state laws banning gay sex.

"With this decision, a conservative majority of the Supreme Court shows how extreme it is, how far removed they are from the majority of this country. It made the United States an outlier among developed nations in the world. But this decision must not be the final word."

Biden called on Congress to restore abortion rights as law, and said his administration would work to protect reproductive rights.

Opinion polls show a majority of Americans support abortion rights. And yet 26 states are now poised to ban abortion, with 13 states ready with trigger laws to ban abortion with Roe overturned.