Proponents of abortion rights gather to demonstrate in front of the Supreme Court on Friday. (Sarah Silbiger for CNN)
The Supreme Court overturned Rowe v. Wade on Friday, ruling that she no longer has a federal constitutional right to abortion. In the future, abortion rights will be determined by the states unless Congress takes action.
Here are answers to some of the most common questions about what this solution means.
Will women be arrested for abortion?
The criminal liability of an abortion seeker will depend on the abortion policies introduced by her country.
Anti-abortion leaders have said in the past that women should not be prosecuted for abortion and that criminal laws prohibiting abortion should target abortion providers or others who facilitate the procedure. Several states with abortion bans, which could take effect with Rowe’s repeal, have a language that exempts a woman who has had an abortion from prosecution.
There is also nothing to stop lawmakers from passing laws calling for the prosecution of people who have requested an abortion.
In case of rape, incest or even a minor pregnancy, where is the law for these people?
Exceptions to bans on abortions for rape, incest, or maternal health will now vary by state. In the wave of abortion restrictions recently passed by state legislatures pending a Supreme Court ruling, only a few proposals include exceptions to rape and incest.
This is an issue that lawmakers are likely to reconsider now that the opinion has been delivered. As he reviewed plans to convene a special legislative session after the opinion was issued, South Carolina Republican Governor Henry McMaster said he opposed the exceptions to rape or incest. On the other hand, Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson told CNN this May that she supported adding rape and incest exceptions to the trigger law currently in force in the state.
How are in vitro fertilization determined? If a country defines a fertilized egg as a person with rights, then if the doctor fertilizes four eggs but does [not] implant all four in a woman, is this murder?
What this view means for the treatment of fertility is not yet certain. Some state laws have a language that appears to exempt the disposal of unused embryos designed for IVF, but that language does not necessarily preclude the process of selective reduction – when a woman whose fertility treatment results in a multiple pregnancy has one or more of those fetuses terminated, to protect the viability of other fetuses and / or the mother’s health. More broadly, fertility law experts have expressed concerns about how repealing Roe will encourage lawmakers to regulate IVF procedures – which have been largely protected from the abortion debate over Roe’s protection.
Why isn’t the Democrat-controlled legislature currently passing a federal law that makes abortion legal?
Democrats currently have no votes to dismantle the Senate filibuster, a 60-vote procedural mechanism that Republicans can use to block federal abortion rights law – as long as 40 senators oppose abortion rights. But it is worth noting that the Women’s Health Act – a bill that will codify and expand Roe – failed 49-51 when it was voted in the Senate in May, meaning that even without the filibuster, it would not have to become law.
There are also legal questions about whether it would be constitutional for federal legislators to adopt a national ban. The late Judge Antonin Scalia emphasized in his legal writings on abortion that political decisions belong to the individual states, while expressing skepticism that Congress has the constitutional power to regulate the procedure.
Get more answers to frequently asked questions here.
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