Roe v. Wade: Supreme court overturns judgment. What next?

The Supreme Court on Friday overturned the historic Roe v. Wade judgment. This means, that Americans no longer have a constitutional right to abortion. The decision will reshape the relationship between millions of Americans and the government.

Roe v. Wade overturned by US Supreme court

On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that Americans will no longer have a constitutional right to abortion. The reproductive right had been in place for almost five decades. In the most closely watched and controversial cases, a majority of the justices stated that the right to end a pregnancy was not in the constitutional text or the nation’s history.

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. It is time to heed the constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,” wrote Associate Justice Samuel Alito.

The court’s decision shifts focus on one of the most divisive problems. Republican lawmakers are going to ban abortion in about half the states. However, on the other hand, democratic-led states are likely to provide protection. Hence, a woman’s access to abortion will highly depend on where they live.

“After today, young women will come of age with fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers had. The majority accomplishes that result without considering how women have relied on the right to choose or what it means to take that right away,” wrote Associate Justice Stephen Breyer.

What will the future bring?

The dissent by Breyer is joined by two other liberal judges of the court. While the opinion will be celebrated by conservatives, it will also lead to protests, lawsuits, and charges. After all, it occurred when the draft opinion on Roe v. Wade leaked on May 2. Friday’s opinion was aligned with the earlier draft. Anti-abortion groups that were pushing for this outcome for years rejoiced. Mississippi was explicitly pressing to overturn Roe. Calling it “dangerously corrosive to our constitutional system”. “Today marks a historic human rights victory for unborn children and their mothers and a bright pro-life future for our nation,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser. Dannenfelser is the president of Susan B. Anthony SBA Pro-Life America. “Every legislature in the land, in every single state and Congress, is now free to allow the will of the people to make its way into the law through our elected representatives,” she added. 

For several years, the legal fight over abortion focused on the regulation of abortion. It included requirements such as the need for minors to inform their parents, signing off from doctors, etc. Additionally, experts believe this decision will start setting off challenges to other rights grounded in the 14th Amendment’s assurance of the due process. For years people took assurances such as the right to interracial or same-sex marriages and the right to access to contraception for granted. “Today, the Republican-controlled Supreme Court has achieved the GOP’s dark and extreme goal of ripping away women’s right to make their own reproductive health decisions,” stated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “Because of Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, the Republican Party, and their supermajority on the Supreme Court, American women today have less freedom than their mothers,” added Pelosi.

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