Supreme Court Overturns Roe V. Wade, Half Of States Expected To Outlaw Abortion Immediately

The Supreme Court announced on Friday the official overturning of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which federally legalized abortion in the first two trimesters.

According to the 6-3 vote, individual states will now have the right to set their own abortion laws within their borders.

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion. “Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”

He continued that because the Constitution does not reference abortion, especially in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment which abortion advocates heavily rely on to support their case, “it is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

Justice Alito was joined in the majority by Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote a concurring opinion to the majority that would have kept Roe v. Wade in place but upheld the restrictive Mississippi which outlawed abortions after 15 weeks and brought the issue to the high court.

Around half of the states are expected to ban abortion or implement strict rules. 

Justices Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, writing “With sorrow – for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection – we dissent.”

The majority opinion was highly reflective of the leaked opinion draft that indicated the court’s ruling back in early May. The opinion sparked both outrage and support regarding the deeply controversial topic. It also created a safety concern for conservative justices as protestors lined up outside their homes and Justice Kavanaugh was the subject of a murder attempt.