- The decision allows US states to ban abortions
- Conservative judges run the government; the liberals disagree
- Biden condemns the government as a “sad day” for America
- Judge Alito calls Rowe v. Wade “extremely wrong”
WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned the remarkable 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling recognizing women’s constitutional right to abortion, a ruling condemned by President Joe Biden that would dramatically change the lives of millions of women. in America and exacerbate growing tensions in a deeply polarized country.
The court, in a 6-3 ruling backed by its conservative majority, upheld the Republican-backed Mississippi law, which bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The vote was 5-4 to repeal Rowe, with Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts writing separately to say he would support the Mississippi law without taking the extra step of erasing Rowe’s precedent completely.
The repercussions of the ruling will be felt far beyond the court’s court with a high degree of certainty – potentially changing the battlefield in the November election to determine whether Biden’s Democrat colleagues retain control of Congress and signaling new openness by judges for change of other long-recognized rights.
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The ruling will also intensify the debate over the legitimacy of the court, once an undisputed cornerstone of the American democratic system but increasingly under scrutiny over its more aggressively conservative decisions on a number of issues.
The decision restored the ability of states to ban abortion. Twenty-six states are either certain or are likely to ban abortion. Mississippi is among the 13 states with so-called enacting laws banning abortion by repealing Roe. (For connected graphics click https://tmsnrt.rs/3Njv3Cw)
In a concurring opinion that raises concerns that judges may overturn other rights, Conservative Judge Clarence Thomas called on the court to reconsider previous decisions protecting the right to contraception, legalizing gay marriage across the country and repealing state laws banning gay sex.
The judges, in a decision written by Conservative Judge Samuel Alito, ruled that Rowe’s decision to allow abortions performed before the fetus would be viable outside the womb – which occurs between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy – was taken incorrectly because The US Constitution makes no specific mention of abortion rights.
Women with unwanted pregnancies in large parts of America may now be faced with the choice of traveling to another state where the procedure remains legal and affordable, buying abortion pills online, or having a potentially dangerous illegal abortion.
Judge Brett Cavanaugh, in the same opinion, seems to have rejected the idea put forward by some abortion advocates that the next step is for the court to declare that the Constitution prohibits abortion. “The constitution neither prohibits abortion nor legalizes abortion,” Cavanaugh wrote.
Cavanaugh also said the decision does not allow states to ban residents from traveling to another state to have an abortion, or to retrospectively punish people for previous abortions.
“SAD DAY”
Biden condemned the decision as “an extreme and dangerous one.”
“This is a sad day for the court and for the country,” Biden told the White House. “The court has done what it has never done before: it has explicitly stripped off a constitutional right that is so fundamental to so many Americans.
Empowering states to ban abortion makes the United States extraordinary among developed nations in protecting reproductive rights, the Democratic president added.
Biden called on Congress to pass a law protecting abortion rights, which is unlikely given its party divisions. Biden said his administration would protect women’s access to drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including birth control pills and medical abortions, while fighting efforts to restrict women’s travel to other states to will have an abortion.
Britain, France and some other nations have called the decision a step backwards, although the Vatican has praised it, saying it is challenging the world to reflect on life’s problems. Read more
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the decision was a “loss for women everywhere”. “Watching the abolition of a woman’s basic right to make decisions on her own body is incredibly frustrating,” she said in a statement.
Anti-abortion protesters celebrate outside the United States Supreme Court as the court rules on the Dobbs abortion case against the Women’s Health Organization, overturning Rowe’s remarkable abortion decision against Wade in Washington, DC, June 24, 2022. REUTERS / Evelyn Hockstein
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U.S. companies, including Walt Disney Co. (DIS.N), AT&T and Facebook’s mother Meta Platforms Inc (META.O), said they would cover staff costs if they now had to travel for abortion services. Read more
“HARMFUL CONSEQUENCES”
A draft version of Alito’s ruling, which shows the court is ready to overturn Rowe, expired in May, sparking a political firestorm. Friday’s decision largely follows this leaked draft.
“The constitution does not mention abortion and no such right is implicitly protected by a constitutional provision,” Alito wrote in the ruling.
Rowe v. Wade acknowledges that the right to privacy under the Constitution protects a woman’s ability to terminate a pregnancy. The Supreme Court, in a 1992 ruling called Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, reaffirmed abortion rights and banned laws imposing an “unnecessary burden” on access to abortion. Friday’s decision also overturned Casey’s decision.
“Rowe was extremely wrong from the beginning. His reasoning was extremely weak and the decision had detrimental consequences. And far from reaching a national settlement on the abortion issue, Rowe and Casey sparked a debate and deepened the division,” Alito added.
The three liberal judges in the court – Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – issued a joint dissent.
“Whatever the exact scope of the forthcoming laws, one result of today’s decision is certain: the restriction of women’s rights and their status as free and equal citizens,” they wrote.
As a result of Friday’s ruling, “from the moment of fertilization, a woman has no right to speak. The state can force her to become pregnant, even at the highest personal and family cost,” the liberal judges added.
The decision gave states the right to ban abortion only a day after a conservative majority of the court issued another decision limiting the ability of states to impose arms restrictions. Read more
Abortion and gun decisions illustrated the polarization in America on a number of issues, including race and voting rights.
Row’s ouster has been a long-standing goal for Christian conservatives and many Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, who as a candidate in 2016 promised to appoint Supreme Court justices to oust Rowe. During his term, he named three on the bench, all of whom joined the majority in the decision.
Asked in an interview with Fox News if he deserved some credit for the decision, Trump said, “God made the decision.”
Crowds gathered in front of the courthouse, surrounded by a high guardrail. Anti-abortion activists erupted in applause after the ruling, while some proponents of abortion rights were in tears.
“I’m in ecstasy,” said Emma Craig, 36, of Pro Life San Francisco. “Abortion is the greatest tragedy of our generation, and in 50 years we will look back to the 50 years we were under Rowe vs. Wade with shame.”
Hours later, protesters outraged by the decision were still gathering in court, as were crowds in coastal cities, including New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and Seattle.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, condemned the ruling, saying the Republican-controlled Supreme Court had achieved the party’s “dark and ultimate goal of depriving women of the right to make their own reproductive health decisions.”
The number of abortions in the United States increased by 8% in the three years ending in 2020, reversing the 30-year downward trend, according to data released on June 15 by the Gutmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. . Read more
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Report by Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung; Additional reports by Katanga Johnson and Rose Horowitz; Screenplay by Lawrence Hurley and Ross Colvin; Edited by Will Dunham, Scott Malone, Daniel Wallis and Michael Perry
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