Former US President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama issued a joint statement in response to the draft Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, stating that if it becomes final, “it will relegate the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues.”

Also read: What is Roe v. Wade?

Their joint statement read, “Few, if any, women make the decision to terminate a pregnancy casually — and people of goodwill, across the political spectrum, can hold different views on the subject.”

“But what Roe recognized is that the freedom enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution requires all of us to enjoy a sphere of our lives that isn’t subject to meddling from the state — a sphere that includes personal decisions involving who we sleep with, who we marry, whether or not to use contraception, and whether or not to bear children,” the statement added.

Also read: Roe v Wade: What’s next for abortion in US after Supreme Court leak?

They also urged abortion-rights supporters to take action and “join with the activists who’ve been sounding the alarm on this issue for years … vote alongside them on or before November 8 and in every other election. Because in the end, if we want judges who will protect all, and not just some, of our rights, then we’ve got to elect officials committed to doing the same.”

The Supreme Court confirmed the legality of a draft judgement that would overturn Roe v. Wade on Tuesday while emphasising that it was not the final decision.

Also read: Roe v Wade: VP Kamala Harris warns ‘rights of all Americans are at risk’

A United States Supreme Court judgement overturning Roe v. Wade would send shockwaves around the world. It would vehemently resist a global trend toward wider abortion access, putting the US in a very small group of countries that have attempted to restrict access in recent years.

Several states have already curtailed the availability of the procedure; if huge sections of the country are permitted to completely remove it, the country will have some of the strictest abortion restrictions in the Western world.

Also read: Can Roe v. Wade survive through US Congress?

The United States is currently one of 56 countries where abortion is legal at the request of a woman, with no need for reason, according to the World Health Organization.