The United States Supreme Court on Friday (June 24) overturned by a 6-3 majority ‘Roe v. Wade’, the court’s landmark 1973 judgment that made abortion a constitutional right.
The decision — an early draft of which was scooped by ‘Politico’ on May 3 — will transform life for women in America. Near total bans on abortion will come into effect in about half of the country’s states.
Soon after the Supreme Court decision on Friday, the attorney general of Missouri issued an opinion that activated the state’s “trigger” law, effectively ending abortion except in medical emergencies, ‘The New York Times’ reported. Trigger laws were set to come into effect in several other states as well.
WHAT IS ROE v. WADE?
It was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States generally protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion.
The decision, which struck down many U.S. federal and state abortion laws, fueled an ongoing debate in the United States about whether, or to what extent, abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of abortion, and what the role of moral and religious views in the political sphere should be. It also shaped debate concerning which methods the Supreme Court should use in constitutional adjudication.
Significance of Roe v Wade
Many think of Roe v. Wade as the case that “legalized abortion.” However, that isn’t exactly true. What it did was change the way states can regulate abortion, and characterized abortion as something that was covered under constitutional rights of privacy.
It may come as a surprise that Roe did not have much of an impact on the number of abortions performed each year in the United States. According to the Guttmacher Institute, in the years before Roe was decided there were over one million illegal abortions performed in the U.S. annually.
After Roe, that number remains around one million, performed legally. Plus, the rate of deaths occurring as the result of abortions dropped dramatically in the years following Roe.
- Joe Biden says a `sad day for US` after Supreme Court strikes down abortion law
President Joe Biden said on Friday that “it’s a sad day for the court and the country” after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that legalised abortion nationwide.
“Now with Roe gone, let’s be very clear, the health and life of women across this nation are now at risk,” he said from the White House. He added that “the court has done what it’s never done before – expressly taking away a constitutional right that is so fundamental to so many Americans,” he said.
- Trump Hails Supreme Court’s Abortion Ruling
Former US president Donald Trump on Friday said “God made the decision” to end the national right to abortion after the Supreme Court overturned nearly five decades of settled law.
“This is following the Constitution, and giving rights back when they should have been given long ago,” Trump told Fox News after a 6-3 majority said individual states should be allowed to make their own rules on abortion.
Asked if he felt he played a role in this outcome, having appointed three conservative justices to the court while in office, Trump said “God made the decision.”
CRITICISM
Former Democratic president Barack Obama
“Today, the Supreme Court not only reversed nearly 50 years of precedent, it relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues — attacking the essential freedoms of millions of Americans.”
- Former first lady Michelle Obama
“I am heartbroken that we may now be destined to learn the painful lessons of a time before Roe was made law of the land — a time when women risked losing their lives getting illegal abortions.”
Planned Parenthood, the leading abortion provider in the United States
“We know you may be feeling a lot of things right now — hurt, anger, confusion. Whatever you feel is OK. We’re here with you — and we’ll never stop fighting for you.”
- Amnesty International USA
“Abortion is a human right. For everyone. Everywhere. We will never stop fighting.”
- Roe v. Wade Overturned
In 2022, the nation’s highest court deliberated on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which regarded the constitutionality of a Mississippi law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Lower courts had ruled the law was unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade. Under Roe, states had been prohibited from banning abortions before around 23 weeks—when a fetus is considered able to survive outside a woman’s womb.
In its decision, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of Mississippi’s law—and overturned Roe after its nearly 50 years as precedent.
We have always emphasized the importance of having a good website for your company because it can act as your best tool for marketing and sales. A poorly designed website can repulse people from your business and can cause you to lose customers before you even have them. Get in touch with HyperEffects to work on creating, enhancing, and making the website of your company more user-friendly.