By The FirstThe United States Supreme Court ended nearly 50 years of federal protections on abortion Friday; striking down Roe V Wade in a historic decision.
The final vote was 6-3.
The decision gives states the power to regulate abortions without intervention from the federal government. Approximately half the states are expected to restrict or ban the procedure in the months ahead.
“The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives,” a syllabus of the opinion said.
“It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,” Alito wrote.
From CNBC:
The case that triggered Roe’s demise after nearly a half-century, known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, is related to a Mississippi law that banned nearly all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Dobbs was by far the most significant and controversial dispute of the court’s term. It also posed the most serious threat to abortion rights since a 1992 case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, in which the Supreme Court reaffirmed Roe.
Dobbs deepened partisan divisions in a period of already intense political tribalism.
The early May leak of a draft of the majority opinion, which completely overturned Roe, sent shockwaves across the country and galvanized activists on both sides of the debate. It also cast a pall over the nation’s highest court, which immediately opened an investigation to find the source of the leak.
The publication of the court’s draft opinion, written by Alito, sparked protests from abortion-rights supporters, who were outraged and fearful about how the decision will impact both patients and providers as 22 states gear up to restrict abortions or ban them outright.
The leaked opinion marked a major victory for conservatives and anti-abortion advocates who had worked for decades to undermine Roe and Casey, which the majority of Americans support keeping in place.
