The Washington PostThe Washington Post

Biden says America is leading. On abortion, Europeans disagree.

By Ashley Parker and Matt Viser

26 Jun 2022 · 7 min read

Editor's Note

Biden had vowed to restore US leadership across much of the world after years of damage during the Trump administration. But the ruling on abortion is undermining faith in America's democracy.

TELFS, Austria - Since taking office, the message undergirding nearly all of President Joe Biden's foreign trips has been that America is back.

But as Biden began a five-day swing through Europe Sunday, he arrived in the Bavarian Alps bearing a less pleasant reality: America is backward, at least in the view of almost every foreign leader with whom he will meet this week, who responded to the news that the U.S. Supreme Court had overturned a woman's right to abortion with abject dismay and alarm.

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