Roe v. Wade Overturned

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday. Americans no longer have a constitutional right to abortion, one that was upheld for almost 50 years. 

In 1973, Roe v. Wade was a momentous decision that granted the constitutional right to an abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy. Now with the Mississippi case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that claimed the U.S. Government could not grant the right to an abortion, the constitutional right was reversed.

State lawmakers now have the power to decide whether or not to ban abortion. 13 states had trigger laws put in place if Roe v. Wade was overturned.  

These laws that will ban all or mostly all abortions (including medication abortions) have already taken effect in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. Bans are expected to go into effect in Mississippi, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming, but will take longer for Idaho, Tennessee, and Texas. 

“With sorrow—for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection—we dissent,” wrote Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. 

The vote went against them 6-3. However Chief John Justice Roberts believed that the ruling in Mississippi’s favor could have happened without overturning Roe v. Wade. The vote to overturn Roe was 5-4.