5 Things to Know Now That Roe v. Wade Is Overturned:
The case circles around a lawsuit by the sole abortion clinic in Mississippi
The court decided to find out more about the issue of abortion during this term after agreeing to hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which has challenged Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Jackson Women’s Health is forced to close now, and it’s the only abortion clinic in Mississippi. On Friday, the court voted 6-3 to uphold Mississippi’s ban on abortions that are past 15 weeks, with only a couple of medical exceptions.
The court also ruled 5-4 to overturn Roe after an opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, whose opinion was that Roe is “egregiously wrong from the start”.
In the past, the court hadn’t allowed states to prohibit the termination of pregnancies before fetal viability outside the womb, which is roughly 24 weeks, ever since the Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973.
The ruling gives states the right to ban abortion
The decision on whether or not to allow abortion is now solely dependent on each and every state.
Right after the Supreme Court finally decided on its ruling, many states enacted the so-called “trigger laws” which immediately ban abortion, as other governors from other states decided on new plans to introduce new legislation or enforce the existing one on abortion.
Before the ruling, around half of the nation’s 50 states will proceed to ban or heavily restrict abortion, as the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights policy organization, has declared. “Under no circumstances, this decision ends the roiling national debate about abortion.” according to Shaw.
“In some ways, I think it is going to kick it into higher gear, as some states decided to respond already.” For example, in Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker signed an executive order that protects abortion rights in the state, which includes adding protections for health care providers and for people who travel from out-of-state and seek legal abortion care.
“I am profoundly disappointed in this decision made by the Supreme Court, as it will have major consequences for women all over the country, who live in states with limited access to other reproductive health care services,” Baker added in a statement.
“The Commonwealth has been for a long time a leader in protecting a woman’s right to choose and access to reproductive health services, as other states have criminalized or even restricted access.”
