Michelle Obama on Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade: 'I am heartbroken today'

• Michelle Obama released a statement following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
• She said she was "heartbroken" over the ruling.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama said she is "heartbroken" following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, undoing nearly 50 years of abortion rights nationwide.

She pointed back to the time before Roe v. Wade was established, when women "risked their lives getting illegal abortions."

"That is what our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers lived through, and now here we are again," Obama wrote in her statement.

"So yes, I am heartbroken — for the teenage girl full of zest and promise, who won't be able to finish school or live the life she wants because her state controls her reproductive decisions; for the mother of a nonviable pregnancy who is now forced to bring that pregnancy to term; for the parents watching their child's future evaporate before their very eyes; for the health care workers who can no longer help them without risking jail time," she added.

Obama attempted to inject some hopefulness into pro-choice supporters, calling on them to get involved.

"The more we allow pessimism to push us further into helplessness, the less we will be empowered to help create the kind of country we want to live in," she said.