The Supreme Court Has Officially Overturned ‘Roe v. Wade’

The Supreme Court of the United States officially overturned Roe v. Wade today, the nearly 50-year-old case that protected a person’s right to choose to have an abortion. Essentially, this new decision removes Roe v. Wade as the rule of the land and now allows states to individually set their own laws for the medical procedure. The high court also overruled Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

“The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. Roe and Casey are overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives,” read the Court’s opinion. The final ruling was 6-3.

The ruling comes from the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, which has been with SCOTUS for more than a year. In this case, Mississippi essentially asked the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and the 1992 Supreme Court decision from Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

Considering the makeup on the Court—six of the nine justices are conservative, with three being appointed by former President Donald Trump—the decision is unfortunately not surprising, especially considering these judges have shown merciless viewpoints around reproductive rights.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. sided with the majority ruling, but said he would have taken “a more measured course,” and would not have completely overruled Roe.

In 1973, Roe v. Wade was decided as precedent that forbade states from prohibiting abortion access and procedures before a fetus was considered viable, which was determined to be roughly 23 or 24 weeks. Now, states are able to put serious restrictions on the medical procedure—or outright ban it completely. Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Texas have “trigger laws” in place, meaning today’s SCOTUS decision now allows them to legally enforce their super-strict abortion policies. However, there are still 15 states plus the District of Columbia that do protect abortion rights even in the midst of Roe v. Wade being overturned.

The final decision comes after a draft of the ruling was leaked by Politico in early May. “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the draft. “Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.” The final decision was nearly identical to the draft.

In the leaked draft, Justice Alito reiterated that the Constitution never protected a person’s right to abortion. “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he adds. “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.…It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

The ramifications of overturning Roe, quite frankly, makes for a bleak future. Not only will the most vulnerable of the population be disproportionately impacted, but doctors who continue to perform the medical procedure could be sued and jailed, and people who receive abortions could be in serious legal trouble as well.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. And in the meantime, check out a few abortion organizations to support below:

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