US Supreme Court may overturn abortion rights

Millions of women across the US could soon lose their abortion rights. The document published by Politico suggests that the country’s top court may overturn the 1973 decision. The 1973 decision legalized abortion right nationwide.

In case the court strikes down the Roe v Wade ruling, the individual states will get allowed to ban abortion if they wish. Hence, abortion could get banned in almost half of US states.

The Supreme court justices are going to issue a ruling in late June or early July. Roe v Wade is in the court’s sights. This is because Mississippi is asking to overturn it. The justices heard the case in December.

Thirteen states already passed so-called trigger laws. This will automatically ban abortion if Roe overrules this summer. Several others are likely to pass laws quickly. Planned Parenthood, a healthcare organization that provides abortions, did research.

According to this research, around 36 million women will lose abortion rights. Anti-abortion groups such as the Susan B. Anthony List welcomed the news. It said, “If Roe indeed overturned, our job will be to build consensus for the strongest protections possible for unborn children.”

The leaked document labeled as “1st Draft”. This is because it appeared to reflect the majority opinion of the court. However, it is still unclear if it represents a final opinion.

This is because justices previously changed their views during the drafting process. The Supreme Court and the White House did not comment yet. However, the publication of the document sparked an immediate outcry from Democrats.

It also started protests between pro-choice and anti-abortion campaigners. Politicians Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer said jointly that if the report is correct, then-Supreme Court is going to inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the past 50 years.

Women in their 20s account for the majority of abortions. In 2019, about 57% were in this age group. Black Americans get abortions at the highest rate – 27 per 1,000 women between the age of 15-44.

Credits: BBC