Welcome to Meet the Press Now. I'm Chuck Todd in Washington on what is an historic day and a perilous moment in American politics.

This is the scene right now. This is the steps of the U.S.

Supreme Court as both pro-choice demonstrators and pro-life demonstrators continue to gather after

the courts, expected, but still no less dramatic ruling, overturning 50 years of precedent,

eliminating the constitutional

right to an abortion.

We heard the president this afternoon urged demonstrations across the country to remain

peaceful.

The ruling is one for the history books, and it sets in motion an avalanche of legal, medical,

political, and cultural fallout at a time when you have to ask yourself that this country

can handle yet another divisive issue. 13 states with trigger laws on the books are going to

be banning abortions immediately or within a very short period of time. Oklahoma's Attorney General,

for example, announced this afternoon that his state will now prohibit abortions on demand.

In the coming weeks, it's expected that roughly half of the states in this country will make

the procedure illegal, even in instances of rape or incest.

Not in every one of those cases, but in some of them.

It's the first time ever that a Supreme Court has granted a widely recognized right

and then taken it away. What that means for other court precedents, upholding the right to same-sex

marriage, contraception use, and beyond, boy, is that a major question mark? Anything that was

tied to the so-called right to privacy. Then there's the political fallout.

We're just months away from the midterms. Clearly, that's on the president's mind as he looks to

energize his base and avoid losing control of Congress in November. Here was some of his reaction this

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