US Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade
The US Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, a decision that could lead to abortion bans in around half of all US states.
Roe v. Wade was a case that began in 1969 when a 25-year-old woman challenged Texas laws banning abortion unless the mother's life was in danger.
The woman's real name was Norma McCorvey, but she used the name "Jane Roe." And defending the anti-abortion laws was district attorney for Dallas, Henry Wade.
Roe v. Wade made it to the Supreme Court, along with the case of 20-year-old Sandra Bensing from Georgia. And by a vote of seven against two in 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to abortion was protected by the constitution.
Specifically, the ruling gave the constitutional right to an abortion within the first three months of pregnancy. It allowed for limited government regulation regarding abortions in the second trimester of pregnancy, and only allowed states to restrict or ban abortions during the last trimester.
However, the Supreme Court has now voted six to three to allow a Mississippi law banning most abortions after 15 weeks — the start of the second trimester.
And in an opinion issued by the court on Friday, June 24 — similar to a draft leaked in May 2022 — Justice Samuel Alito wrote that Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a 1992 decision that reaffirmed the right to abortion, were wrong.
"We therefore hold that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion," Alito wrote.
Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky and Missouri are among 13 states that had laws ready to ban abortion if Roe was overturned. Other states have laws ready for near-total bans or prohibitions after 6 weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they are pregnant.
Surveys by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and others have found that the majority of Americans support abortion being legal in all or most circumstances. But many also support some restrictions, especially later in pregnancy, and about 1 in 10 Americans want abortion to be illegal in all cases.
Protests have been taking place across the US since the Supreme Court decision was announced.
