Supreme Court of the United States of America Overturns Abortion Rights Granted Under Roe v Wade
The US Supreme Court on Friday overturned the nationwide right to abortion in its landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling, causing major uncertainty about the future of abortion access in the United States.
Here are answers to some of the biggest questions we have been hearing since Friday:
What did the Supreme Court’s ruling say?
In a decision by Justice Samuel Alito, the court upheld a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. A majority of justices also voted to strike down Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), effectively ruling abortion is no longer a nationwide right and giving states the power to ban the procedure. Alito called Roe v. Wade “an abuse of judicial authority” that relied on “egregiously wrong” reasoning, and argued the right to abortion is not expressly mentioned in the Constitution and isn’t “deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition.”
Four other conservative justices joined Alito’s ruling, while Chief Justice John Roberts agreed to uphold Mississippi’s law but opposed fully overturning Roe v. Wade. The court’s three liberal justices penned a dissent that expressed sorrow “for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection.”
Which states have already banned abortion?
Over a dozen states have passed “trigger laws” that automatically ban abortion after Roe is struck down. Three of those states—Louisiana, Kentucky and South Dakota—immediately outlawed abortion after Friday’s ruling, and officials in Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Utah also allowed their states’ trigger bans to take effect. Texas’ trigger ban was set to be enacted 30 days after the court overturned Roe, but abortions stopped Friday after the state attorney general said abortion is now “illegal in Texas” and threatened to prosecute abortion providers using a nearly century-old law. Alabama also outlawed abortion Friday after a court allowed the state's pre-Roe abortion ban to take effect.
Five more states with trigger bans are guaranteed to prohibit abortion, but require waiting periods or additional action like the state attorney general certifying the ban. They are: Tennessee, Mississippi, Idaho, North Dakota and Wyoming.
Will more states ban abortion?
Almost certainly yes. The pro-abortion rights Guttmacher Institute projects up to 26 states will ban or strictly limit abortion. Among those states are Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Arizona, Michigan, Indiana, South Carolina, Nebraska, Iowa and West Virginia.
Soon after Friday’s ruling, several GOP governors pushed state lawmakers to consider new abortion restrictions. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has vowed to “fight like hell” to keep her state from enacting its 1931 abortion ban, and the state attorney general said she will not enforce the law. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) also said he doesn’t plan to enforce a state abortion ban enacted in 1851, though Wisconsin clinics stopped offering abortions Friday.
Are there exceptions for rape, incest or threats to the life of the mother?
All states that have banned abortion so far carry exceptions when there is a risk to the life of the mother, but few allow for abortions in cases of rape or incest. Among states with trigger bans, only Utah, Idaho and North Dakota carry exceptions for rape or incest.
Which states have promised to protect abortion?
Sixteen states and Washington, D.C., have laws in place protecting the right to an abortion. The states are: California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado, Washington, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon, Nevada, Connecticut, Maine, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Delaware and Vermont.
These states’ policies vary. A few states like Colorado allow abortion throughout a patient’s pregnancy, while Massachusetts largely bans abortion after 24 weeks.
Could there be a nationwide abortion ban?
To be clear, the Supreme Court ruling does not immediately ban abortion across the U.S.—it just makes abortion access a state decision. But Republican lawmakers have started holding discussions about nationwide abortion restrictions, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) telling CNN he supports a 15-week abortion ban.
Republicans would need to win back control of Congress and the White House if they hope to restrict abortion nationwide. Polling suggests the GOP has a strong chance of winning back Congress in the midterms, but Democrats would be able to use the Senate filibuster to block any legislation that does not have the support of at least 60 senators.
However, polling also suggests many Republican voters don’t want a nationwide ban: 52% of Republicans said in a May CBS News/YouGov survey Congress shouldn’t make abortion illegal.
Can women travel to other states to get an abortion?
Yes. None of the state-level bans currently on the books suggest prosecuting women for travelling across state lines to receive an abortion.
“Under bedrock constitutional principles, women who reside in states that have banned access to comprehensive reproductive care must remain free to seek that care in states where it is legal,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Friday.
Can the decision be reversed?
It's technically possible for Congress to codify abortion rights into federal law, but it’s unlikely anytime soon given the current makeup of Congress. Democrats control Congress by an extremely slim margin, but they would need to eliminate the Senate filibuster to codify any abortion laws since only two Republicans—Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)—appear to support the idea. Key centrist Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.) have consistently opposed dropping the filibuster.
Are rights like gay marriage and birth control threatened by this decision?
Friday’s court decision was solely limited to abortion, with no direct impact on any other issues. However, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concurring opinion in which he suggested the court should consider reviewing other landmark cases like Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), which guaranteed married couples the right to use contraception, and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Still, Alito emphasized in the majority opinion that the ruling should not be interpreted “to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion,” and argued Obergefell and Griswold are much different cases because they do not involve questions of life.
Lawmakers in some states have already suggested possible bans on contraception like Plan B, commonly called the "morning after pill," but it's unclear if the overturn of Roe alone gives states legal authority to enact such bans.
Do most Americans support overturning Roe v. Wade?
The data consistently says “no.” Poll after poll suggests a majority of Americans want abortion to stay mostly legal, especially in cases of rape or incest. But most Americans do not think all abortions should be legal—a June 2021 Associated Press/NORC poll found 61% of respondents thought abortion should be legal during the first trimester of pregnancy, but support drops to 34% for abortions in the second trimester and plummets to 19% in the third trimester.
It is very clear that this ruling has led to enormously turbulent effects across the United States. It will take some time to process before a clear picture can be assembled with regard to which states are doing what. It will also take some time for the various inevitable court cases which will result from this decision to be worked out.
However, in a time when US authorities give more rights and protections to those who wish to carry a gun than they do to pregnant females, it seems unlikely that any counteractive legislation will be forthcoming any time soon.