President Joe Biden on Friday called the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade “a realization of an extreme ideology and a tragic error.”

In a decision released hours earlier, five conservative justices voted to strike down the nearly 50-year-old ruling that established the constitutional right to abortion.

Biden predicted the decision will put the health and lives of some women at risk.

“I believe Roe v. Wade was the correct decision, as a matter of constitutional law and application of the fundamental right to privacy and liberty and matters of family and personal autonomy,” the president said in remarks from the White House.

He claimed there was a “broad national consensus” of Americans who support the right to abortion and said the Supreme Court ruling was the culmination of “a deliberate effort” by conservatives over decades to undo that right, noting that three of the five justices in Friday’s majority were nominated by the same president, Donald Trump. 

Biden called on voters upset about the decision to make their voices heard at the polls in November.

“This is a sad day for the country, in my view, but it doesn't mean the fight’s over,” the president said.

He conceded that he does not have the executive authority to restore Roe and that Congress lacks the necessary votes to codify abortion rights. 

An abortion rights bill failed in the 50-50 Senate last month. Some Democrats are calling for the elimination of the 60-vote filibuster rule to advance legislation.

“This fall, Roe is on the ballot,” Biden said. “Personal freedoms are on the ballot. The right to privacy, liberty, equality — they're all about it.”

He added that the ruling threatens other precedents established by the Supreme Court that hinged on the right-to-privacy argument, noting Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a concurring opinion Friday the Supreme Court should reconsider a number of other key cases, including ones that granted rights for contraception and same-sex marriage.

But the president indicated he won’t sit idle in the meantime. He said he will seek to protect women’s rights to cross state lines for abortions and access to contraception and abortion pills.

Earlier this month, 25 Senate Democrats, led by Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Patty Murray of Washington state, sent a letter to Biden listing a number of possible executive orders they believe the president could sign. Among them would be increasing access to medication abortion, providing resources — such as travel vouchers and child care services — to women who must seek abortions outside their home states and using federal land to set up abortion clinics, including in states where abortions are otherwise illegal.

“We can obviously support people in states that are outlawing abortion,” Warren told CNN on Thursday. “We can help with our contributions, we can help by volunteering, but we also call on the administration.”

Biden urged people protesting the ruling to keep the peace.

“I call on everyone no matter how deeply they care about this decision to keep all protests peaceful, peaceful, peaceful, peaceful, he said. “No intimidation. Violence is never acceptable. Threats and intimidation are not speech.”