The US Supreme Court on Friday took the dramatic step of overturning the landmark 1973 Roe vs Wade ruling that recognised a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion and legalised it nationwide, handing a momentous victory to Republicans and religious conservatives who want to limit or ban the procedure.
The court, in a 6-3 ruling powered by its conservative majority, upheld a Republican-backed Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks.
The justices held that the Roe vs Wade decision that allowed abortions performed before a fetus would be viable outside the womb between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy — was wrongly decided because the US constitution makes no specific mention of abortion rights. A draft version of the ruling indicating the court was likely to overturn Roe was leaked in May, igniting a political firestorm. Mississippi’s law had been blocked by lower courts as a violation of Supreme Court precedent on abortion rights.
Jackson Women’s Health Organisation, the only abortion clinic remaining in Mississippi, challenged the 2018 law and had the support of Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration at the Supreme Court. The law allows abortions when there is a “medical emergency” or a “severe fetal abnormality” but does not have an exception for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
A federal judge in 2018 struck the law down, citing the Roe precedent. The New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2019 reached the same conclusion.
Roe vs Wade recognised that the right to personal privacy under the US constitution protects a woman’s ability to terminate her pregnancy. The Supreme Court in a 1992 ruling called Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania vs Casey reaffirmed abortion rights and prohibited laws imposing an “undue burden” on abortion access. Chief Justice John Roberts denounced the May 2 leak of Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion in the case and announced an investigation to identify the culprit. Supreme Court leaks are extremely rare, especially concerning internal deliberations before a ruling is issued. Following the leak, Biden condemned the overturning of Roe as a “radical” step and urged Congress to pass legislation protecting abortion access nationally.
Thousands of people rallied for abortion rights in Washington and other cities after the leak, including some protesters at the homes of some conservative justices. A California man armed with a handgun, ammunition, a crow bar and pepper spray was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Maryland home on June 8 .
