Supreme Court abortion ruling updates: WH warns of ‘nightmare scenarios’

"Today's decision is a major step backward for public health," U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said in a statement Friday. "Reproductive health decisions – like all health decisions – should be made by patients and their health care providers."

Murthy said that with restricted access to reproductive health care, there will be more unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions.

"Ultimately, the health of women and pregnant people is put at risk – an effect that will be felt disproportionately in historically marginalized populations, including communities of color, low-income Americans, and rural residents," he continued.

Murthy said health care providers will be further strained in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and "forced into an impossible choice between doing what's right for their patients and complying with laws that are at odds with their patient's health interests."

The surgeon general said he will continue to support "women’s right to make their own decisions about their health."

Following Friday's Supreme Court decision, Democratic lawmakers have their eyes set on November, hoping the issue of abortion will galvanize widespread support.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., said reproductive rights will be on the ballot in November, but also acknowledged Democrats are going to have to focus on issues like the economy to win support.

“It's not an either-or. We should be talking about the economy. We should be talking about our plan to lower costs for families," Maloney said. "We have a plan, but [Republican] priority is going to be to ban abortion in all 50 states and and that's the choice voters going to get to make.”

Maloney also said Republicans are fixated on banning abortion nationwide, and come election season, they will have to answer to voters.

"Every Republican should answer whether they will criminalize abortion in all 50 states because the Supreme Court said the Constitution doesn't stand in their way. And we know that that is their priority. And those are the wrong priorities,” he added.

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who is currently in a hotly contested Senate battle against JD Vance, said he didn’t know if abortion would be a top issue for voters but said the Supreme Court decision could galvanize a movement.

“Largest governmental overreach in the history of our lifetime right here," Ryan said. "And I think Americans are gonna wholly reject that. And while it may not be the top issue, it will be for a lot. And I think it will be a secondary issue for a lot of other people.”

-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa, Allie Pecorin and Gabe Ferris

Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, calling it the first time in history that a constitutional right was taken away from Americans. Harris said the decision takes away the right to privacy.

"For nearly 50 years we have talked about what Roe v. Wade protects. Today, as of right now, as of this minute, we can only talk about what Roe v. Wade protected. Past tense. This is a health care crisis," Harris said while delivering remarks in Plainfield, Illinois.

Harris said the expansion of freedom is not inevitable, encouraging Americans to vote in this year's midterm elections, saying "this is not over."

"Millions of women in America will go to bed tonight without access to the health care and reproductive care that they had this morning -- without access to the same health care or reproductive health care that their mothers and grandmothers had for 50 years," Harris said.

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Abortion ruling a ‘health care crisis,’ VP Harris says

“This is the first time in the history of our nation that a constitutional right has been taken from the people of America,” Harris said.

ABCNews.com

Senior White House officials held a Zoom meeting Friday afternoon seeking to rally abortion rights organizers, advocates and other leaders regarding what one official called the Supreme Court’s “devastating” decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

While the officials didn’t announce anything new in terms of actions the Biden administration may take, they pledged to work with the advocates to ensure women’s reproductive rights across the country.

“Although we're here on a devastating day, I think, you know, I think we will all meet the moment,” Emmy Ruiz, the White House’s director of political strategy and outreach, said.

The officials drew attention to Attorney General Merrick Garland vowing to protect women’s ability to travel to other states for reproductive health care and to President Joe Biden directing the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure access to abortion medications.

“We are in this together,” White House counsel Dana Remus said. “We have a long road ahead. Lots of work to do, but I am optimistic that together we can make progress.”

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson