Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, ending decades of federal abortion rights

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a 5-4 decision, the 1973 landmark ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion in the U.S.

With the controversial but expected ruling, individual states can set their own abortion laws without concern that they conflict with Roe, which had permitted abortions during the first two trimesters of pregnancy.

Almost half the states are expected to outlaw or severely restrict abortion as a result, with laws tied to a highly restrictive Mississippi abortion law. The changes may affect tens of millions of people nationwide, who may have to cross state lines to seek reproductive health care.

Other states plan to maintain more liberal rules governing the termination of pregnancies.

Supporters of abortion rights condemned the ruling, while abortion opponents praised the decision. Protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court on Friday to speak out on a ruling that upends decades of precedent in the U.S.

Majority reasoning and the role of Planned Parenthood v. Casey

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion that tossed out both Roe v. Wade and a 1992 Supreme Court decision upholding abortion rights in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

Alito was joined by four other conservatives. Chief Justice John Roberts voted with the majority to uphold the Mississippi abortion restrictions but did not agree with overturning Roe in full.

The majority included three justices appointed by former President Donald Trump: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.

The court’s three liberal justices filed a dissenting opinion, and protests quickly followed outside the Supreme Court building.

In the majority, Alito wrote: “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled.” He added that the Constitution makes no reference to abortion and that no such right is implicitly protected, including under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Alito further stated that any unenumerated right must be “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition” and “implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.” He concluded that the issue of abortion should be returned to elected representatives.

In their joint dissent, the liberal justices argued the majority overruled Roe and Casey for one reason: it had become able to discard them. They said the majority substitutes a rule by judges for the rule of law.

The dissent also stated that the majority would allow states to ban abortion from conception onward because it does not believe forced childbirth implicates a woman’s rights to equality and freedom.

Concurring view and potential reconsideration of other cases

In a concurring opinion, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that, based on the rationale used to overturn Roe, the Supreme Court should reconsider rulings in three other past cases involving the right to use birth control and the constitutional right for gay people to have sex and marry one another.

The Dobbs case, the leaked draft, and nationwide reaction

The case behind Roe’s demise is Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, related to a Mississippi law that banned nearly all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

In early May, a leaked draft of the majority opinion—describing a complete overturn of Roe—drew shock nationwide and galvanized activists on both sides. The court opened an investigation to find the source of the leak.

After the draft was published, protests came from abortion-rights supporters, who feared impacts on patients and providers as 22 states prepared to restrict abortions or ban them outright.

Republican lawmakers initially focused on the leak itself as well as what it revealed, and they criticized protests that formed outside the homes of some conservative justices, accusing activists of trying to intimidate the court.

Roberts said the court’s work “will not be affected in any way” by the leak and described it as a “betrayal” intended to undermine the integrity of the court’s operations. After the leak, fencing was set up around the court building and Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the U.S. Marshals Service to help ensure the justices’ safety.