June 25 Roe v. Wade news

Our live coverage has ended. Follow the latest news on the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling here and read more about today's developments in the posts below.

In his first public appearance since the Supreme Court's historic reversal of Roe v. Wade, former President Donald Trump applauded the court's six conservative justices for their "courage," describing the ruling as "a victory for the Constitution, a victory for the rule of law and above all, a victory for life." 

"This breakthrough is the answer to the prayers of millions and millions of people. And these prayers have gone on for decades and decades," Trump said at a campaign rally in Mendon, Illinois for GOP Rep. Mary Miller and gubernatorial hopeful Darren Bailey. "To the generations of Americans in the pro-life movement, as well as countless constitutional conservatives, your boundless love, sacrifice and devotion has finally been rewarded in full."

Amid chants of "Thank you, Trump!" from the crowd, the former President also boasted about his role in establishing the court's current conservative majority by appointing Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett during his four years in office. 

"We got almost 300 federal judges and three great Supreme Court justices confirmed to do exactly that. And thanks to the courage found within the United States Supreme Court, this long divisive issue will be decided by the states and by the American people," Trump said of the abortion rights decision that was handed down Friday. 

The former President also weighed in on recent protests at the homes of the Court's conservative justices and the arrest of a man earlier this month who was charged with attempted murder of Justice Kavanaugh. 

"I especially want to commend the justices for standing strong in the face of outrageous threats and violence," Trump said. "This was an organized and concentrated effort to threaten the court and interfere with their decisions, but the justices stood their ground against these extremists and terrorists." 

The U.S. Capitol Police arrested two people Saturday afternoon for “destruction of property” after “they were accused of throwing paint over the fence by the U.S. Supreme Court,” the department tweeted.

Demonstrators holding signs and chanting have been protesting outside of the Supreme Court for a second day, after Friday's SCOTUS decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

"We have seen a lot of chanting, a bit of confrontation because there have been people here on both sides of this issue, yelling at each other. It is largely peaceful," CNN's Joe Johns reported from the ground.

Women traveled to Washington, DC, from near and far -- from Dallas, Texas to Sarasota, Florida, Johns said.

"We already walked this walk once and here we have to come back because of my daughter and all of the other people in the world this affects," one woman told Johns.

Another woman, Develda Edgington, told him that she was "furious," and she said while she usually only participates in her local demonstrations, she felt that she had to be at the Supreme Court today. "This one feels different ... this is just the beginning," she said.

"This is going to awaken the sleeping giant," protester Cheryl Kelly told CNN.

The U.S. Capitol Police also tweeted Saturday it was working to “help demonstrators with heat issues” by bringing in cooling buses and additional resources.

CNN’s Sarah Fortinsky & Aileen Graef contributed to this report

An overnight fire at a Christian pregnancy clinic in Longmont, Colorado is being investigated as arson, according to public safety officials.

According to a release from the Longmont Public Safety Department, officers responded to a building fire Saturday morning at 3:17 a.m. local time.

The building houses offices for Life Choices, which, according to its website, is a “Christ-centered ministry providing education, support, healing, and limited medical services for sexual life choices.”

Longmont Public Safety said the building sustained fire and heavy smoke damage.

The front of the property was also vandalized with black paint. In photographs shared by Longmont Public Safety, the phrases, “If abortions aren’t safe, neither are you,” and “Bans off our bodies” can be seen spray-painted on the facility’s exterior wall and entrance way.

Investigators have asked area residents to check their surveillance videos as they attempt to identify those responsible, according to the release. 

Longmont is a municipality approximately 15 miles northeast of Boulder.

The sole abortion clinic in North Dakota is now preparing to move across state lines following the recent Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade.

North Dakota is one of many states with trigger laws intended to ban abortion now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned. The state's law will go into effect 30 days after it is certified by the state's attorney general.

The Red River Women's Clinic, located in Fargo, has been the only provider in the state for 20 years. The clinic's director, Tammi Kromenaker, told CNN Saturday they are still open -- for now. "The plan is to provide service as long as we legally can," Kromenaker said. And once that is no longer possible in North Dakota, the clinic intends to move across state lines to Moorhead, Minnesota, according to Kromenaker.

North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley's office is still "evaluating the Dobbs opinion in every detail and will give careful consideration to its impact on North Dakota's abortion laws," according to a June 24 statement.

Click through to read more.

The Supreme Court’s Friday ruling overturning Roe v. Wade means an 1849 state law banning abortion in Wisconsin takes effect again. During a special session called by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, the Republican-controlled state legislature declined on Wednesday to repeal the law—which Evers described as providing "no exceptions for abortion in the cases of rape or incest" in a June 8 statement.

 "This is an absolutely disastrous and unconscionable decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, the consequences of which I hoped to never see again in my lifetime," Evers said in a statement Friday. “We will fight this decision in every way we can with every power we have."

Wisconsin Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul told CNN affiliate WISN before the court’s decision came down that he did not intend to enforce the abortion ban at the state level. However, following the decision Friday, his office issued a statement stopping short of that, saying, “Our office is reviewing today’s decision and will be providing further information about how we intend to move forward next week.”

Meanwhile, the neighboring state of Minnesota is preparing for a potential influx of women seeking abortions as bans in other states go into effect. Minnesota's Democratic Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order Saturday that is designed to shield women seeking abortions there from being subject to legal consequences in other states.

"To the maximum extent of the law, it prohibits state agencies from using any resources to help in any investigation that would impose sanctions for providing or attempting to get reproductive health care services that are legal in Minnesota,” Walz said in a news conference.

Planned Parenthood of Utah filed a lawsuit Saturday seeking to block the state’s abortion ban that went into effect following the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

The so-called “trigger law,” passed by Utah in 2020, went into effect late Friday, according to a letter sent by John L. Fellows, the general counsel for the Utah Legislature, which was provided to CNN by KUTV. 

Exceptions to Utah’s abortion ban include cases of rape or incest, detection of severe birth defects, or prevention of the death of serious injury of the person giving birth. Performing an abortion in violation of the law is a second-degree felony.

In the lawsuit cited by Planned Parenthood of Utah, the organization argued that the abortion ban violates the state constitution and that the Utah Supreme Court “has made clear that state constitutional guarantees may be more expansive than those under federal law.” The organization is seeking a temporary restraining order and injunctive relief to prevent enforcement of the law.

“Although Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ... has revoked the right to previability abortions under the U.S. Constitution, the Utah Constitution serves as an independent source of rights for Utahns,” the suit said.

The abortion rights group said in the suit that it had "no choice but to stop performing abortions" after the law took effect and that it canceled appointments on Saturday for about a dozen patients who had procedures scheduled.

The Utah Attorney General's Office told CNN Saturday it had "no comment at this time" when asked for its response to the suit.

CNN’s Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this report.

Saturday is the first full day for outright bans on abortion in some states after the Supreme Court overturned the nearly half-century-old Roe v. Wade decision.

Three states – Kentucky, Louisiana and South Dakota – have so-called “trigger bans” that went into effect automatically. Ten other states have trigger bans with implementation mechanisms that occur after a set period or after a step taken by a state government entity.

Yesterday, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote separately to explicitly call for other rulings to be revisited.

“In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell,” Thomas wrote, referring to decisions on contraception, sodomy and same-sex marriage. Liberals said that those rulings are now at risk.

Here are the latest developments:

Biden says SCOTUS decision is "devastating:" President Joe Biden acknowledged his administration’s frustration with Friday’s ruling, calling this week's Supreme Court decisions "terrible."

“Jill and I know how painful and devastating a decision it is for so many Americans, and I mean so many Americans. The decision is implemented by states. My administration is going to focus on how they administer it, and whether or not they violate other laws, like deciding not to allow people across state lines to get public health services, and we’re going to take actions to protect women's rights and reproductive health,” he said before departing for the G7 summit in Germany.

The White House said Biden “is going to continue to find solutions” to ensure abortion rights, but did not offer details on potential executive actions the administration is weighing to do so.

Protests largely peaceful, with some arrests: Demonstrators gathered in front of the Supreme Court and in cities around the US again to protest the decision. While the protests were largely peaceful, there were a few incidents Friday and early Saturday, including a tense situation with anti-abortion activists at the only Mississippi abortion clinic, tear gas used to disperse a crowd in front of the state capitol, and abortion rights supporters in Los Angeles marching onto a freeway.

Governors shore up resources: Minnesota’s governor issued an executive order Saturday providing protections for people coming to Minnesota for reproductive healthcare from states where abortion is illegal or criminalized, according to a release from Gov. Tim Walz’s office. 

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee vowed to make his state a “sanctuary state” for reproductive choice for people across the country, regardless of abortion bans existing in other states. He pledged a $1 million down payment to start subsidizing reproductive healthcare networks across the state ahead of an anticipated influx of patients. 

Just after 10 a.m. ET, on Friday morning, a man at the National Right to Life Convention in Atlanta shouted, "Roe's been overturned!"

Inside the room, some started clapping, while others checked their phones in the minutes after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that had made access to abortion a federal constitutional right. The session was derailed. Convention-goers hugged one another, and some were visibly emotional.

The moment at the National Right to Life's annual convention was a win that advocates had fought for decades through organizing, lobbying and voting.

Many convention attendees told CNN after the ruling that they had been involved with the anti-abortion movement for years.
Jessica Rodgers, 33, was speaking to a group of teens attending the convention, explaining just "how historic today might be" as the ruling came in. As a former intern with National Right to Life who is now the vice president of DC Metro Life Alliance, Rodgers said the ruling moved her to tears.
"To see this barrier put up for all of these decades that have prevented states from taking necessary steps to protect human life at every level, to see that barrier fall and crash was just kind of euphoric. It was joyous," she told CNN on Friday.

Read more from the ground in Atlanta.