President Biden says the decision by the Conservative majority on the Supreme Court shows "how far removed they are from the majority of this country".

He says this decision "must not be the final word" and pledges to use all his administration's "appropriate lawful powers". He also urges Congress to act and calls on voters to have the final word.

French President Emmanuel Macron has given his reaction to the US ruling on abortion, saying he wanted to express his "solidarity with all those women whose freedoms have today been compromised".

In a tweet Mr Macron said: "Abortion is a fundamental right for all women. We must protect it."

After a 30-year decline, abortions in the US rose by 8% between 2017 and 2020, according to statistics from the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights research organisation.

According to the data, there were 930,160 abortions in the US in 2020, compared to 862,320 in 2017. Just over a fifth of pregnancies in 2020 - 20.6% - ended in abortions in 2020. In 2017, the figure stood at 18.4%.

In some states, however, the changes were more drastic. Mississippi, for example, saw a 40% increase in abortions over the three-year period, while Oklahoma saw abortions spike by 103%.

In Missouri - where all but one abortion care provider left the state - abortions fell by 96% from 4,710 in 2017 to just 170 in 2020.

While it is unclear what caused the increase in abortions, the Guttmacher Institute's report speculated it may have been driven by an expansion in coverage in some states under the Medicaid programme, a public healthcare scheme.

A second possibility, the report noted, is that some women may have lost access to contraceptive care in public programmes during the administration of Donald Trump, leading to an increase in unintended pregnancies.

Image source, Getty Images

The nation's top lawyer, Attorney General Merrick Garland, has said Friday's ruling by the Supreme Court upends “a key pillar of the rule of law”.

The Department of Justice, which is currently helmed by Garland, "strongly disagrees" with the decision, he said, warning its impact would be "immediate and irreversible".

"And it will be greatly disproportionate in its effect – with the greatest burdens felt by people of colour and those of limited financial means," he added.

Garland said people residing in states that outlaw abortion “must remain free to seek that care in states where it is legal", noting his department would work to protect providers in states where abortion remained legal.

He also said that federal agencies may continue to provide reproductive health services to the extent authorised under federal law.

"We will not waver from this department’s founding responsibility to protect the civil rights of all Americans.”

Image source, Catriona Fee

Catriona Fee is a 20-year-old conservative from New York.

"My immediate reaction was joy. I think Roe was wrongly decided and the opinion was unconstitutional. And I was really excited that the court thought the same.

Finally, Roe is back to the ash heap of history where it belongs. I think this ruling moves us closer to that more perfect union, as unborn individuals still in their mother's womb now have greater protection under the law.

Ultimately, it's up to the states to decide. But it's also something that signals how much more work the pro-life movement needs to do. Thirteen states have trigger laws that will ban or fully restrict abortion, and we need to get those numbers up.

We need to make sure that unborn life is protected to the fullest extent of the law in all 50 states. So it's definitely encouraging - a wonderful, wonderful thing. But we've got lots of work to do.

I think that the goal of the life movement always has been and now should be even more so to make abortion unthinkable, not just illegal."

Michelle Fleury
BBC World News Correspondent in Philadelphia PA

Jeremy Stoppelman, the co-founder and CEO of Yelp, says "business leaders must step up".

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade that legalised abortion in the US, the boss of the local search and review website told the BBC: "This ruling puts women’s health in jeopardy, denies them their human rights, and threatens to dismantle the progress we’ve made toward gender equality in the workplace since Roe," he said.

A sentiment echoed by Levi’s.

In a statement shared with the BBC, the denim maker said "Given what is at stake, business leaders need to make their voices heard and act to protect the health and well-being of our employees."

The company which has been outspoken on abortion explained: "Protection of reproductive rights is a critical business issue impacting our workforce, our economy, and progress toward gender and racial equity."

And companies that had reacted with silence when the draft ruling showed Roe v Wade might be overturned, are coming off the sidelines.

Disney reached out to employees on Friday to state that they recognise the "impact" of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

For those unable to access medical care, including abortions, in one location, the media giant said they would cover travel expenses to allow for "affordable coverage for receiving similar levels of care in another location".

But abortion is one of the most divisive topics in American politics which explains why some are staying quiet.

The Business Roundtable, a trade group representing US business interests in Washington DC, told us it "does not have a position on the merits of the case".

With women making up half of the US workforce, some of America’s corporate leaders recognise abortion is a business issue.

Image source, Getty Images

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision, protests are being planned in some 50 cities across the country this evening, from Detroit to Denver.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

In his address to the nation, Joe Biden condemned the Supreme Court decision to overrule Roe v Wade’s abortion protections and urged Americans angered by the decision to head to voting booths during midterm elections in November to deliver Democratic majorities in Congress and state legislatures.

And that was about it.

He also pledged to defend a woman’s right to travel unimpeded out of state to obtain an abortion and protect mail access to birth control and abortion medication via the mail.

These are defensive legal battles, however, not affirmative steps by the president to protect abortion rights in states that are now tripping over themselves to announce bans on the procedure. And while the promise of sharply worded legal briefs and a flurry of lawsuits may be welcome by some abortion-rights activists, there will be others who view it as not nearly enough.

Because of Justice Samuel Alito’s leaked draft opinion on this case in May, the White House was well aware that a decision of this scope was highly likely. It had months to prepare a response. There were liberal activists who were calling for drastic actions – such as establishing women’s health clinics on federal property in abortion-banning states, relying on military physicians to perform abortion procedures or strengthening abortion coverage in federal insurance programmes.

Those moves were unlikely to succeed given existing limitations federal abortion funding imposed by Congress and the now obvious conservative bent of the US Supreme Court.

But Biden’s liberal base is angry and itching for a fighting response, not a practical one. Pressure will grow on Biden to do more unilaterally, even if his realistic options are limited.

Image source, Getty Images

Speaking from the White House moments ago, Joe Biden urged demonstrators on all sides to keep their protests peaceful, saying violence was "never" acceptable.

For weeks, police presence was increased around the US Supreme Court in anticipation of an abortion ruling. So far, demonstrations in the US Capitol has remained peaceful.

Law enforcement are also reportedly monitoring security around so-called Crisis Pregnancy Centres - clinics that dissuade women with unplanned pregnancies to seek abortions.

Security has already been increased outside the homes of Supreme Court Justices, after a leaked decision in May that previewed today's ruling.

Boris Johnson has described the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade as "a big step backwards".

The ruling against the 50-year-old landmark abortion ruling has left millions of women in the US unsure over the future of their reproductive rights and "has massive impacts on people's thinking around the world".

Image source, Getty Images

The governors of California, Oregon and Washington have issued a multi-state commitment to "continue to be a safe haven for all people seeking abortions and other reproductive healthcare services in these states".

The west coast states also said they were committed to "protecting patients and doctors against efforts by other states to export their abortion bans to our states".

Governor Jay Inslee said: "Washington state remains steadfast in our commitment to protecting the ability and right of every patient who comes to our state in need of abortion care, and we will fight like hell to restore that right to patients all across the country."

Oregan's Governor Kate Brown also stated: "Abortion is health care, and no matter who you are or where you come from, Oregon doesn’t turn away anyone seeking health care."

Tara McKelvey
BBC News, Washington

Libby Kernahan, 25, a recent graduate of University of St Andrews in Scotland, says that her sister had to have an abortion some time ago because of a foetal abnormality.

“These are medical decisions,” Kernahan says. “This isn’t for the Supreme Court to get their nose into.”

Kernahan grew up in the Chicago area, and she says she has been appalled by the Supreme Court's conservative tilt and decisions such as the one announced today.

When asked to describe an emoji that reflects her feelings at the moment, she looks into the distance.

“I don’t know if there’s a screaming emoji,” she says. “Something that shows anger.”

Image source, Kara Anderson

Kara Anderson is a 22-year-old conservative from California.

"First and foremost, I am grateful that the court has taken this constitutional stand and returned rightful authority to state governments and constituencies.

Justice Alito's opinion clearly indicates how Roe was legally and culturally wrong, 'on a collision course with the Constitution from the day it was decided'.

Whereas Roe inappropriately established precedent that should be determined legislatively, the Dobbs decision strengthens American federalism and democracy, protecting fundamental qualities of our republic that have been under attack in recent years.

As for my personal beliefs on this issue, I am heartened by what this decision means for innocent human life. Tens of millions of babies have been legally killed since 1973, and I am excited to see those numbers decrease dramatically in the future. I am ready to help women in unplanned pregnancies by supporting organisations dedicated to serving mothers as well as their babies.

Ultimately, I am thankful that overturning Roe means that more innocent human beings will have a better chance at life in a freer, safer, more just society guided by the enduring principles of our Constitution."

Image source, Getty Images

At the conclusion of his brief remarks, Biden said that the US people "can still have the final word" in the ongoing fight for abortion rights in the US.

"This is not over," he said.

Biden took no questions from journalists at the White House.

Image source, Getty Images

Closing his brief remarks, Biden asks everyone, on all sides of the abortion debate, "to keep all protests peaceful, peaceful peaceful".

"Violence is never acceptable,” he says. "Threats and intimidation are not speech".

Finally, Biden addresses American women, saying he knows they will now face "incredibly difficult situations. I hear you. I support you. I stand with you".

Image source, Getty Images

In his remarks, Biden said that women in states where abortion restrictions are now in place will be free to travel to other parts of the country to receive abortion care.

“My administration will defend that bedrock right,” he said, adding that no official will be able to interfere with a woman’s right to travel.

Additionally, Biden said his administration will “protect access to medication…like contraception”.

He also said he will protect access to abortion medication that have been approved by authorities 20 years ago.

Biden, however, warned that he believes “maternal mortality will climb in America” in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision.

Image source, Getty Images

"The court has done what it has never done before. It has expressly taken away a constitutional right that is so fundamental to so many Americans," he says.

"There will be real and immediate consequences," he says, noting some state laws will go into place immediately that ban abortion.

This decision is "so extreme that women and girls are forced to bear their rapist's child".

Biden pauses, seemingly overwhelmed by emotion.

"it just stuns me," he says.

"Imagine a woman having to carry a child that was the consequence of incest," he says. "It's cruel."

He later added, regarding a call by Justice Clarence Thomas to look at other rulings like those protecting same-sex marriage and the use of contraceptives: "This is an extreme and dangerous path the court is now taking us on."

Image source, Getty Images

Joe Biden said that he believes Roe v Wade “was a direct decision” that drew a balance between a woman’s right to choose and the state’s ability to regulate abortions.

That compromise, he said, was “acceptable” to most Americans of different faiths and backgrounds.

Biden added that Roe v Wade survived administrations from both parties over decades – until Donald Trump.

“Make no mistake, this decision is a combination of a deliberate effort over decades,” he said, adding that it is the realisation of “an extreme ideology”.

He added that the decision is an “error” that takes away a right that is “so fundamental” to make Americans.

Image source, Reuters

Speaking now, US President Joe Biden says the Supreme Court has taken away a constitutional right of the American people.

"They didn't limit it, they simply took it away," Biden says.

"It's a sad day for the court and for the country."