Supreme Court Overturns Roe V. Wade : States Free To Ban Abortion

The Supreme Court overturns Roe V. Wade Friday, June 24, 2022, in a 5-4 ruling. The conservative majority has ended constitutional protections for a woman's right to abortion in place for nearly 50 years. This outcome is expected to lead to immediate abortion bans in many states governed by Republicans. To that point shortly after Friday's decision Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, declared June 24 a holiday for his office and added abortion was now illegal in the state of Texas.

The three liberals of the court Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan wrote a joint statement on their opinion of the ruling 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 decision is a direct result of the right side of the court and former President Donald Trump's three Supreme Court appointees. In addition, the ruling coincides with the shocking leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito that indicated the court was going to overturn the longstanding women's rights law. Justice Clarence Thomas, the longest-serving member of the court voted to overrule Roe 30 years ago. He is also the only remaining Justice on the court present when the landmark Planned Parenthood v. Casey case was decided in 1992. Justices Thomas and Alito were joined by Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett in a landmark ruling to overturn Roe.

The majority of Americans, 72% do not agree, with the Supreme Court's decision. According to opinion polls, 6 out of 10 Americans overwhelmingly believe the 1992 ruling should be preserved and that women should have control of their own bodies. That right is now in the hands of the states and the political parties for which they are run.