The Supreme Court of the United States, the highest Court of the land, has decidedly voted in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Constitutional court case that legalised abortion in all fifty states, and the subsequent 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, an initial draft majority opinion obtained by POLITICO stated.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote, “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overturned.”
So, if true, what does this mean for abortion rights in the United States?
Well, it simply means that abortion rights are no longer federally protected and the abortion debate becomes a states’ rights issue. But, this decision WILL have devastating consequences immediately after the ruling is publicly announced.
Right away, there are 21 states that have something known as a “trigger law.” This means that the second the Supreme Court strikes down Roe and Casey, those states will automatically implement restrictive abortion bans. Experts estimate another five states will likely quickly do the same based on political climate.
But, this could also change depending on the legislature.
More blue states, or Democrat-run states, will most likely keep abortion access legal and safe. More Republican-run states, on the other hand, will immediately begin implementing abortion bans as soon as the case is overturned.
In the past few months alone, we’ve already seen an attack on abortions in states like Texas, where abortions have been banned after six weeks, and Mississippi, the state from where the case SCOTUS is hearing about now is from, banned abortion after fifteen weeks.
“If you think voting in local elections isn’t as important as voting for federal elections, you’re completely wrong,” says one student. “These types of issues will fall in the hands of local legislature; they will pretty much have the final say of what you want to do with your body.”
The problem with banning abortion is that we all know it won’t stop abortion, it will just stop safe ones. Women will still find ways to get them, choosing to opt for a more dangerous and often life-threatening way to terminate a pregnancy.
The moment the Court overturns Roe is the moment the Court has chosen to endanger women’s lives. Those who will seek abortions will die because of this, there is no doubt.
There is also an issue of class.
The wealthy, regardless of whether or not they live in a state that has banned abortion, will still get an abortion if they so choose to get one. They will have the money and the resources to fly to a state that will give them access to abortion. The poor, on the other hand, will not have the money or the resources to do that.
Abortion bans disproportionately affect marginalized communities more than anyone else.
The Court claims that this decision will not affect any other future decision, but many activists seem to disagree.
“The more I read the draft, the more it is apparent that the Court is a half step away from letting states criminalize same-sex intimacy.” Said one Twitter user.
Following the leaked memo, many activists have begun ringing the warning bells, saying that once the Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade, they will go after Obergefell v. Hodges next, the Supreme Court Case that legalized same-sex marriage back in 2015.
Even though the Court states this decision won’t affect others, the Roe case was argued based on the right to privacy, and many other court cases, including Obergefell and Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court case that legalized interracial marriage, were all argued AND won under the right to privacy.
All in all, the decision to overturn Roe is unpopular, multiple polls from multiple sources showing that between 58% and 70% of Americans want to keep Roe v Wade as the law of the land.
Once again, this was just a leaked draft of a majority opinion. The dissenting justices now will begin writing dissent memos as to why the overturning of this case is not the best case and the judges will begin to debilitate. But, this will most likely be something that happens, and it won’t be surprising if Roe v. Wade will no longer be the law of the land by the end of summer.
“Women were called hysterical for sounding the alarm on abortion rights…” Said one Twitter user. “This leaked opinion shows we were right to be terrified.”
