Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday she thought she would “throw up” while listening to the recent oral arguments in the Supreme Court over emergency access abortion.
“I thought I would literally throw up listening to the oral argument before the Supreme Court about whether or not doctors and hospitals and nurses have to give emergency care to pregnant women who show up in emergency rooms, as you say, bleeding out in terrible pain, having some extraordinary challenge to a pregnancy that they wanted, but now they are not only sick but maybe dying,” Clinton said in an interview on MSNBC’s ”Morning Joe.”
The Supreme Court last month appeared skeptical over whether a federal law guaranteed access to lifesaving care including access to abortion care when necessary. The justices were split by both ideology and gender.
“To hear male justices of the Supreme Court parsing how many organs you have to lose in order to be eligible for emergency treatment, honestly it was ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ come alive,” Clinton said. “And it was so distressing to me that you would have that kind of conversation going on in the Supreme Court by a radical group of justices who literally want to turn the clock back. They want to turn it back on all kinds of advances we’ve made.”
The Supreme Court case is looking at an Idaho law that prohibits abortion care under all circumstances except if a woman’s life is in danger.
The Biden administration filed a suit against the state over the law, arguing it goes against the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, which mandates federally funded hospitals provide stabilizing care to emergency room patients regardless of their ability to pay.
Clinton reiterated her support for President Biden’s reelection, arguing it is crucial to ensuring abortion rights in the U.S.
“Therefore, any woman who has any sense of self-respect, autonomy, agency, independence and values freedom, needs to understand there’s only one choice in this election, and that’s Joe Biden,” she said.
“And it is something that I feel so strongly about, because if you are someone who has a religious belief about abortion, then pursue your own religious beliefs. That is exactly what this country allows you — in fact, wants you — to do, but that doesn’t mean that you or any of your male allies get to impose your views on everyone else, every other woman in this country,” Clinton added.
She urged women voters to make a choice that will “preserve” their freedom, noting “progress is possible, not guaranteed.”
Clinton has been a vocal supporter of access to abortion care and last month warned that the oral arguments suggested such access could be limited.
“The MAGA Supreme Court majority appears ready to rule that the right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ doesn’t extend to women with pregnancy complications or who otherwise need abortions,” Clinton wrote on the social platform X. “This is horrifying, and it is because of Donald Trump.”