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Transcript/ScriptWashington Week Ahead (TV)
HEADLINE: End of Roe: Supreme Court Eliminates Constitutional Right to Abortion
TEASER: Anticipated ruling met with cheers and protest in street demonstrations
PUBLISHED AT: 06/26/2022 at 3:26 pm
BYLINE: Arash Arabasadi
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER: AP/ Michelle Ugenti-RITA/@MichelleUgenti/ @az_rww/ ABC “This Week”/ WABC-TV
SCRIPT EDITORS: MPage; caw, Steve Redisch
VIDEO SOURCE (S): AP/ Michelle Ugenti-RITA/@MichelleUgenti/ @az_rww/ ABC “This Week”/ WABC-TV
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO __
TRT: 3:00
NOTE: PART NO ARCHIVE
VID APPROVED BY: mia
TYPE: TVPKG
UPDATE: ))
((INTRO))
[[A conservative supermajority in the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the constitutional right to an abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized the procedure in the United States. The 6-3 court decision last week follows a move by the high court to loosen restriction on guns in America despite modest gun control measures passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more on the ruling.]]
((VAR, DEMO, OUTSIDE SCOTUS, WASHINGTON, AP, 06/25))
((NARRATOR))
Demonstrators flocked to the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington Saturday following Friday’s ruling overturning the constitutional right to an abortion.
((VOX POP, CROWD))
“Legal abortion on demand.”
“Legal abortion across the land.”
“Not your body, not your choice.”
((POLICE IN CAPITOL, PHOENIX, AZ, AP/UGC, 06/24))
((mandatory cg Michelle Ugenti-RITA/@MichelleUgenti))
((NARRATOR))
The ruling striking down Roe vs. Wade – a nearly-50-year-old legal precedent protecting a woman’s right to choose – was met with swift demonstrations. Friday, outside the Arizona State Capitol Building, thousands of activists on both sides of the issue briefly disrupted a legislative session inside.
((FIRING TEAR GAS, PHOENIX, AZ, AP/UGC, 06/24))
((mandatory cg @az_rww))
((NARRATOR))
Local media reports law enforcement fired tear gas on the crowd after demonstrators began banging on the building’s glass doors.
((VAR, DEMO, OUTSIDE SCOTUS, WASHINGTON, AP, 06/25))
((NARRATOR))
Overturning Roe is not a national ban on abortion, but it does send the decision back to individual states. Most Republican-led statehouses appear ready to impose statewide bans, even in cases of rape, incest or the well-being of the mother.
[RADIO TRACK: South Dakota’s Republican Governor Kristi Noem speaking Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”]
((mandatory cg ABC “This Week”))
((Gov. Kristi Noem, Republican))
“What was interesting about the Supreme Court decision is that it gave the authority back to the states to make these decisions, so now that this decision’s been made, it will be up to each of the states and the state legislators and the people there to talk to their elected representatives about what their laws look like closer to home.”
((VAR, AERIALS, DEMONSTRATIONS, NYC, AP/WABC, 06/24))
((NO ARCHIVE))
((mandatory cg WABC-TV))
((NARRATOR))
The ruling follows other recent and controversial decisions by the Supreme Court, including relaxing gun laws at a time of bipartisan support for modest gun regulation following a wave of mass shootings.
[RADIO TRACK: Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts speaking Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
((mandatory cg ABC “This Week”))
((Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democrat))
“This court has lost legitimacy. They have burned whatever legitimacy they may still have had after their gun decision, after their voting decision. ... They just took the last of it and set a torch to it with the Roe vs. Wade opinion.”
((VAR, PRIDE PARADE, PARIS, AP, 06/25))
((NARRATOR))
Overturning Roe may have far-reaching effects outside the United States. At an LGBTQ Pride parade in Paris, some activists used the event as a call for France to cement into its constitution the right to an abortion. Much like the United States, France has had nearly a half-century of laws protecting abortion rights.
[RADIO TRACK: Maria Telesca was at the Pride parade, and she spoke with the AP.]
((Maria Telesca, Activist))
“I feel like there’s a sense of nationalism ((and)) patriarchy spreading, but the United States, having such a conservative Supreme Court, they are literally taking all our rights away. As a young woman, I have always had the opportunity to have a choice for my body. Now, my daughter, should she come to America, will no longer have that choice. I find it heart-breaking.”
((VAR, Anti-abortion DEMONSTRATION, COLUMBUS, OH, AP, 06/24))
((NARRATOR))
But back in the U.S., anti-abortion rights activists celebrated a decadeslong quest to ban the procedure.
[RADIO TRACK: Lexie Hall is an anti-abortion activist from an organization called Created Equal. She spoke with the AP.]
((courtesy AP))
((Lexie Hall, Created Equal))
“It’s a very exciting moment for all of us. We had 80 people – 80 pro-life people – in one room together when we found out that the decision to reverse Roe v. Wade happened. And we were all thrilled and excited. We know that the work still needs to go on, and there’s much to be done.”
((VAR, SIGNS/DEMO OUTSIDE PLANNED PARENTHOOD, COLUMBUS, AP, 06/24))
((NARRATOR))
Since Friday’s ruling, at least 10 states have enacted abortion bans.
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Washington D.C.
Embargo DateJune 26, 2022 15:26 EDT
Byline((Arash Arabasadi, VOA News ))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
