President Joe Biden released a statement Thursday blasting an Alabama Supreme Court decision that gave embryos the same legal status as children and forced several fertility clinics to pause some procedures.

Biden’s statement said the ruling was a direct result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

“Today, in 2024 in America, women are being turned away from emergency rooms and forced to travel hundreds of miles for health care, while doctors fear prosecution for providing an abortion,” Biden’s statement said.

“And now, a court in Alabama put access to some fertility treatments at risk for families who are desperately trying to get pregnant. The disregard for women’s ability to make these decisions for themselves and their families is outrageous and unacceptable.”

The statement said that Biden had been hearing from women concerned about their rights.

Abortion is shaping up to be a major issue in the upcoming presidential election. Former President Donald Trump has said he supports a nationwide 16-week ban on abortion.

Biden said he would seek to restore abortion access in every state. After the Supreme Court ruled that no federal right to abortion existed, it sent the issue back to the states. More than a dozen, including Alabama, outlawed the procedure.

Alabama is the first state in the nation to say that embryos have some of the same legal rights as children. That ruling, released Feb. 16, has been embraced by anti-abortion organizations. But many families and physicians involved in fertility treatment have been harshly critical of the court’s decision.

“I know that folks are worried about what they’re seeing happening to women all across America. I am too. I hear about it everywhere I go. My message is: The Vice President and I are fighting for your rights. We’re fighting for the freedom of women, for families, and for doctors who care for these women. And we won’t stop until we restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law for all women in every state.”