Biden scolds the Supreme Court to their faces for overturning Roe v. Wade: President, 81, tells justices 'with all due respect women are not without power' in pointed message at his State of the Union

President Joe Biden took on the powerful Supreme Court during his State of the Union speech, calling it out for overturning Roe v. Wade in an election year where the court's decisions are already playing an outsized role.

It was one of many pointed political barbs during the speech, this time directed at the handful of justices gathered inside the House chamber for the speech.    

'With all due respect, justices, women are not without electoral or political power,' Biden said after bashing the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization by a 6-3 conservative majority in 2022. 

'Many of you in this chamber and my predecessor are promising to pass a national ban on reproductive freedom,' Biden said in a remark directed at House and Senate Republicans.

'My God! What freedom else would you take away?'

President Joe Biden took a shot at Supreme Court justices over striking down Roe v. Wade, telling them 'women are not without electoral or political power'

Then he delivered a slam on the court, after its ruling struck down nationwide abortion rights protections, freeing up states to pass a range of new restrictions. 

'And with all due respect, justices, women are not without electoral electoral power  – electoral or political power.'

Biden was drawing on language from the Dobbs decision itself. The majority wrote: 'Our decision returns the issue of abortion to those legislative bodies, and it allows women on both sides of the abortion issue to seek to affect the legislative process by influencing public opinion, lobbying legislators, voting, and running for office. Women are not without electoral or political power.'

He then went after people who were 'bragging about overturning Roe v Wade' and said they had 'no clue about the power of women. But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot' in 2020 and 2020 'and will win again in 2024.'

Biden's 2024 rival Donald Trump regularly takes credit for appointing three conservative justices who voted to strike down Roe. 

Three justices who joined the 6-3 opinion striking down Roe were in the chamber

Biden greeted Chief Justice John Roberts on the way into the chamber

Democrats believe they can score continued gains over the abortion issue

The justices were at a disadvantage. By tradition they can't clap or respond to the political rhetoric in the room

The attack on the court came in a speech where Biden went after his predecessor and called out House Republicans on tax cuts and the border

The justices weren't in much of a position to respond. By tradition those who attend do not applaud or otherwise engage in activity that could appear partisan. 

Chief Justice John Roberts, who Biden greeted on the way into the chamber, was prsent, as were a handful of justices.

The author of the opinion, Justice Samuel Alito, wasn't there.

Biden didn't mention it, but the high court has been making critical decisions in recent weeks that are shaping the political terrain of 2024. One struck down a Colorado ruling that struck Donald Trump off the ballot. Another set up oral arguments on Trump's claim of absolute immunity for actions as president. But the timetable could end up pushing Trump's January 6 trial in Washington, D.C. until after the election, when he could try to wipe away his prosecution if elected.