White House press secretary Jen Psaki refused to criticize plans of pro-choice activists to protest for abortion rights in the United States following the leak of a draft opinion about overturning Roe v. Wade.

When asked during a briefing on Thursday if “progressive activists that are now planning protests outside some of the justices’s houses are extreme?”, Psaki redirected the narrative and said- “Peaceful protest? No, peaceful protest is not extreme.”

“I think our view here is that peaceful protests — there’s a long history in the United States in the country of that. And we’ve certainly encouraged people to keep it peaceful and not resort to any level of violence,” she added after a journalist asked about “waving off activists who want to go into residential neighborhoods.”

Also Read: The Trump justices and what they had said on Roe v.Wade

During the briefing, Psaki justified the reason behind the protests, stating that “women across the country are worried about their fundamental rights that had been law for 50 years — their rights to make choices about their own bodies and their own health care — are at risk. That’s why people are protesting. They’re unhappy. They’re scared.”

However, when asked if President Joe Biden supports the activists who have circulated maps and residential addresses of the Supreme Court justices via social media, Psaki explained: “The president’s view is that there’s a lot of passion, a lot of fear, a lot of sadness from many, many people across this country about what they saw in that leaked document.”

Also Read: If Roe v. Wade falls: First they came for abortion, then…

“We obviously want people’s privacy to be respected. We want people to protest peacefully if they want to protest. That is certainly what the president’s view would be,” she elucidated.

Meanwhile, several activist groups supporting abortion rights condemned the possible overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling and called for protests all around the country.