Anti-abortion demonstrators celebrate outside the United States Supreme Court as the court rules in the Dobbs v Women鈥檚 Health Organization abortion case, overturning the landmark Roe v Wade abortion decision in Washington, U.S., June 24, 2022. (REUTERS)
WASHINGTON聽 鈥� The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that recognized women鈥檚 constitutional right to abortion, a decision condemned by President Joe Biden that will dramatically change life for millions of women in America and exacerbate growing tensions in a deeply polarized country.
The court, in a 6-3 ruling powered by its conservative majority, upheld a Republican-backed Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The vote was 5-4 to overturn Roe, with conservative Chief Justice John Roberts writing separately to say he would have upheld the Mississippi law without taking the additional step of erasing the Roe precedent altogether.
The reverberations of the ruling will be felt far beyond the court鈥檚 high-security confines 鈥� potentially reshaping the battlefield in November鈥檚 elections to determine whether Biden鈥檚 fellow Democrats retain control of Congress and signaling a new openness by the justices to change other long-recognized rights.
The decision will also intensify debate over the legitimacy of the court, once an unassailable cornerstone of the American democratic system but increasingly under scrutiny for its more aggressively conservative decisions on a range of issues.
The ruling restored the ability of states to ban abortion. Twenty-six states are either certain or considered likely to ban abortion. Mississippi is among 13 states with so-called trigger laws to ban abortion with Roe overturned.
In a concurring opinion that raised fears among many that the justices might roll back other rights, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas urged the court to reconsider past rulings protecting the right to contraception, legalizing gay marriage nationwide and invalidating state laws banning gay sex.
The justices, in the ruling written by conservative Justice Samuel Alito, held that the Roe decision that allowed abortions performed before a fetus would be viable outside the womb 鈥� which occurs between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy 鈥� was wrongly decided because the U.S. Constitution makes no specific mention of abortion rights.
Women with unwanted pregnancies in large swathes of America now may face the choice of traveling to another state where the procedure remains legal and available, buying abortion pills online or having a potentially dangerous illegal abortion.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in a concurring opinion, appeared to nix an idea advocated by some anti-abortion advocates that the next step is for the court to declare that the Constitution outlaws abortion. 鈥淭he Constitution neither outlaws abortion nor legalizes abortion,鈥� Kavanaugh wrote.
Kavanaugh also said that the ruling does not let states bar residents from traveling to another state to obtain an abortion, or retroactively punish people for prior abortions.
鈥楽AD DAY鈥�
Biden condemned the ruling as taking an 鈥渆xtreme and dangerous path.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 a sad day for the court and for the country,鈥� Biden said at the White House. 鈥淭he court has done what it has never done before: expressly take away a constitutional right that is so fundamental to so many Americans.鈥�
Empowering states to ban abortion makes the United States an outlier among developed nations on protecting reproductive rights, the Democratic president added.
Biden urged Congress to pass a law protecting abortion rights, an unlikely proposition given its partisan divisions. Biden said his administration will protect women鈥檚 access to medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration including pills for contraception and medication abortion, while also combating efforts to restrict women from traveling to other states to obtain abortions.
Britain, France and some other nations called the ruling a step backward, although the Vatican praised it, saying it challenged the world to reflect on life issues.
U.S. companies including Walt Disney Co and Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc said they will cover employees鈥� expenses if they now have to travel for abortion services.
鈥楧AMAGING CONSEQUENCES鈥�
A draft version of Alito鈥檚 ruling indicating the court was ready to overturn Roe was leaked in May, igniting a political firestorm. Friday鈥檚 ruling largely tracked this leaked draft.
鈥淭he Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision,鈥� Alito wrote in the ruling.
Roe v. Wade recognized that the right to personal privacy under the Constitution protects a woman鈥檚 ability to terminate her pregnancy. The Supreme Court in a 1992 ruling called Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey reaffirmed abortion rights and prohibited laws imposing an 鈥渦ndue burden鈥� on abortion access. Friday鈥檚 ruling overturned the Casey decision as well.
鈥淩oe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division,鈥� Alito added.
The court鈥檚 three liberal justices 鈥� Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan 鈥� issued a jointly authored dissent.
鈥淲hatever the exact scope of the coming laws, one result of today鈥檚 decision is certain: the curtailment of women鈥檚 rights, and of their status as free and equal citizens,鈥� they wrote.
As a result of Friday鈥檚 ruling, 鈥渇rom the very moment of fertilization, a woman has no rights to speak of. A state can force her to bring a pregnancy to term, even at the steepest personal and familial costs,鈥� the liberal justices added.
The ruling empowered states to ban abortion just a day after the court鈥檚 conservative majority issued another decision limiting the ability of states to enact gun restrictions.
The abortion and gun rulings illustrated the polarization in America on a range of issues, also including race and voting rights.
Overturning Roe was long a goal of Christian conservatives and many Republican officeholders, including former President Donald Trump, who as a candidate in 2016 promised to appoint justices to the Supreme Court who would reverse Roe. During his term he named three to the bench, all of whom joined the majority in the ruling.
Asked in a Fox 黑料社 interview whether he deserved some credit for the ruling, Trump said: 鈥淕od made the decision.鈥�
Crowds gathered outside the courthouse, surrounded by a tall security fence. Anti-abortion activists erupted in cheers after the ruling, while some abortion rights supporters were in tears.
鈥淚鈥檓 ecstatic,鈥� said Emma Craig, 36, of Pro Life San Francisco. 鈥淎bortion is the biggest tragedy of our generation and in 50 years we鈥檒l look back at the 50 years we鈥檝e been under Roe v. Wade with shame.鈥�
House of Representatives Speaker Democrat Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, denounced the decision, saying that a 鈥淩epublican-controlled Supreme Court鈥� has achieved that party鈥檚 鈥渄ark and extreme goal of ripping away women鈥檚 right to make their own reproductive health decisions.鈥�
The number of U.S. abortions increased by 8% during the three years ending in 2020, reversing a 30-year trend of declining numbers, according to data released on June 15 by the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.