White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki gave a head-scratching answer when she was asked if President Joe Biden would view a decision by the Supreme Court as “legitimate” if it overturned Roe v. Wade.
During a press briefing on Wednesday, Psaki was asked, “If the court does move to strike down Roe, should Americans be prepared to accept that decision as legitimate? And would President Biden accept that as legitimate?”
The answer seems like it should be a straightforward “yes,” even if it is just a hypothetical question.
However, that is not how Psaki responded.
Instead, she said, “I can’t speak for what actions could be possible on the legal front. I would point you to the Department of Justice on that.”
“What I can tell you will happen is, and this is what we are preparing for the possibility of, that if Roe were to fall, abortion would probably be illegal in about half of the country,” she continued.
Psaki went on to note that several states have “trigger laws” that would implement bans on abortion if Roe was overturned.
Watch the video below:
WATCH: Jen Psaki refuses to explicitly answer say whether the Biden administration would accept a SCOTUS ruling striking down Roe v. Wade as "legitimate."
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 4, 2022
She also laments how abortions of Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics babies would plummet. pic.twitter.com/KBGEPyT7kx
The reporter then gave Psaki a second chance to answer whether Biden would view such a decision as legitimate.
“Well, there is not even a decision yet,” Psaki said.
She added, “We know that this is a leaked document. It is not a final opinion. So I just can’t speak to that hypothetically.”
The exchange comes after Politico published a report based on a leaked draft of an opinion that appeared to indicate the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade.
It’s not clear why this is a question.
While there may be some merit to not wanting to comment on matters pending before the court, it should not be hard to simply say, “We accept the decisions of the Supreme Court as legitimate and will adhere to its rulings.”
The Supreme Court can overturn its decisions — it is one of the two ways to alter a decision from the high court.
If the administration is not happy with the court’s makeup, it’s worth noting that nothing that Republicans did to ensure they were able to confirm three justices was illegal.
Every justice on the court was nominated by the duly elected president and confirmed by a majority of the Senate.
And it is not as though the Republican-controlled Congress passed legislation to increase the number of seats on the court to appoint more justices with a judicial philosophy they support.
Even if Psaki feels there is some merit to not answering the question, it poses a danger of potentially influencing the court’s decision.
If the justices are concerned that their ruling will be attacked as not legitimate by a co-equal branch of government and thus have its authority undermined, might they, for the sake of the institution and its future rulings, vote differently?
This has long been a concern of the court. It does not have an army or a police force to enforce its rulings. Instead, it relies on the nation’s leaders and its citizens to accept its rulings and comply with them — that is something Americans have done for nearly 250 years — even if they disagree with the decisions.