The Supreme Court on Friday lifted constitutional abortion protections that have existed in the United States for nearly half a century. The court’s decision by a conservative majority overturned the historic Roi v. Wade ruling, and abortion is expected to be banned in about half of the states.
The decision, unimaginable just a few years ago, marked the end of decades of efforts by anti-abortion opponents, made possible by an enthusiastic right-wing court that was strengthened by three appointments by former President Donald Trump. What is it.
Both sides have predicted that abortion fights will continue in state capitals and in Washington, and Justice Clarence Thomas, who is part of Friday’s majority, called on the court to ban gay marriage, homosexuality and prohibition. Repeal other High Court decisions to protect the use of pregnancy drugs.
Clinics in at least two states, Wisconsin and West Virginia. Abortion stopped after Friday’s decision.
Enemies of abortion encouraged the decision, but abortion rights advocates, including President Joe Biden, expressed frustration and vowed to fight for the restoration of rights.
“This is a sad day for the court and for the country,” Biden told the White House, urging voters to make it a major issue in the November election. Should.”
The decision comes more than a month after a dramatic leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Elliott showed that the court was ready to take this important step.
According to opinion polls, this conflicts with the majority of Americans who supported Roe’s protection.
Elito wrote in a final opinion released Friday that Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey’s 1992 decision, which upheld the right to abortion, was wrong in the days when it was decided and should be reversed.
“We therefore hold that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. Roe and Casey must be overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote, in an opinion that was very similar to the leaked draft.
Authority to regulate abortion rests with the political branches, not the courts, Alito wrote.
Joining Alito were Thomas and Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett. The latter three justices are Trump appointees. Thomas first voted to overrule Roe 30 years ago.
Four justices would have left Roe and Casey in place.
The vote to uphold the Mississippi law was 6-3, but Chief Justice John Roberts did not join his conservative colleagues in reversing the row. He wrote that in order to govern Mississippi, there was no need to reverse the broader examples.
Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – the less liberal wing of the court, were at odds.
“With sorrow for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection, we dissent,” they wrote, warning that abortion opponents now could pursue a nationwide ban “from the moment of conception and without exceptions for rape or incest.”
Changing the make-up of the court is central to the strategy of the opposing party to the abortion, as the dissenters clearly noted. Liberal judges wrote that “the court today changes course for only one reason and only one reason: because the composition of this court has changed,” the Liberal judges wrote.
