US Supreme Court overturns Roe's ruling, ending abortion rights

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
24 Jun 20:21

Abortion is becoming increasingly criminalized in the US.

A pro-choice protest outside the US Supreme Court.

On Friday, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a law that gives American women the right to abortion. The court ruled that states may regulate abortion practices according to the court's written opinion.

“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,” the ruling said.

The case came in favor of women who seek an abortion without restrictions from the government: The 1992 decision in the case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey upheld the Roe v. Wade ruling.

Samuel Alito, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, said the US Constitution does not forbid citizens from regulating or prohibiting abortion - the Roe and Casey decisions revoked that authority.

The case before the Supreme Court concerned Mississippi abortion law which forbids abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy - this was inconsistent with Roe's decision. However, today's decision affirmed the law's constitutionality.

Thirteen states so far, including Mississippi, have "trigger laws" which are used to automatically ban abortion in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy upon the Supreme Court overturning of the decision.

Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan argued that overturning Roe's decision did away with a certain balance: protecting life while also protecting women. The justices criticized the majority's decision and said that it will result in the “curtailment of women’s rights” and status as equal citizens.