Roe v Wade is overturned in landmark Supreme Court decision sparking mass abortion rights protests
THE Supreme Court has overturned the landmark ruling Roe V Wade, eliminating nearly 50 years of constitutional protections for abortion.
The 5-4 decision will leave the issues of abortion up to state legislators, which will ultimately result in a total ban on the procedure in about half of the states.
Associate Justice Samuel Alito was joined in his opinion by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Since the decision came out, Department of Homeland Security intelligence has reportedly notified law enforcement, first responders and private sector partners nationwide of potential domestic violence extremist activity in response to the news.
In Friday's ruling, Alito called Roe "egregiously wrong from the start".
He said the Constitution "does not confer a right to abortion," declaring that the decision should ultimately be left to the state to regulate.
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"Abortion presents a profound moral question The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion.
"Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. The Court overrules those decisions and returns that authority to the people and their elected representatives."
The states that may implement total or near-total abortion restrictions include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Thomas wrote that the Supreme Court should "reconsider the rulings that protect contraception, same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriage."
"In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court's substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.
"Because any substantive due process decision is 'demonstrably erroneous,' we have a duty to 'correct the error' established in those precedents," he wrote.
Democrat-appointed Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.
“With sorrow—for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection—we dissent,” they wrote.
GOP APPLAUSE
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy praised the court's decision, saying: “We applaud this historic ruling.”
Outside Captial Hill, Rep. told reporters: "Answer to prayer, we’re going to protect life."
"The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Dobbs is courageous and correct. This is a historic victory for the Constitution and for the most vulnerable in our society," McConnell wrote.
“For 50 years, states have been unable to enact even modest protections for unborn children. More than 90% of Europe restricts abortion on demand after 15 weeks, but every state in America has been forced to allow it more than a month past that, after a baby can feel pain, yawn, stretch, and suck his or her thumb.
"Judicial activists declared that every state had to handle abortion like China and North Korea and no state could handle it like France or Germany.
Former Vice President said: "Having been given this second chance for life, we must not rest and must not relent until the sanctity of life is restored… in every state in the land.”
celebrated the decision and praised his father for what he "accomplished" during his presidency.
"This is following the Constitution, and giving rights back when they should have been given long ago," Trump told the outlet.
"This brings everything back to the states where it has always belonged."
"Today, the Republican-controlled Supreme Court has achieved the GOP's dark and extreme goal of ripping away women's right to make their own reproductive health decisions.
Former presidential candidate said: "Most Americans believe the decision to have a child is one of the most sacred decisions there is, and that such decisions should remain between patients and their doctors.
"Today’s Supreme Court opinion will live in infamy as a step backward for women's rights and human rights."
Former First Lady Michelle Obama said she's heartbroken for people around the country who "just lost the fundamental right to make informed decisions about their own bodies."
"I am heartbroken that we may now be destined to learn the painful lessons of a time before Roe was made law of the land - a time when women risked losing their lives getting illegal abortions," Michelle said.
"A time when the government denied women control over their reproductive functions, forced them to move forward with pregnancies they didn't want, and then abandoned them once their babies were born.
"That is what our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers lived through, and now here we are again."
LEAKED DRAFT
The decision comes after last month's shocking leaked draft opinion that suggested the Supreme Court was poised to strike down the abortion legislation, according to .
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. confirmed the document was authentic and immediately launched an investigation to find the source of the breach.
The majority draft opinion, reportedly written by Justice Samuel Alito and obtained by Politico, rejects the 1973 decision guaranteeing constitutional protection of abortion rights.
The case worked its way through the courts and finally reached the highest court.
In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled against the Texas law, issuing a majority decision that prevented all states from enacting abortion laws that infringed on a mother’s ability to terminate her pregnancy in the first trimester.
As a result of the ruling, abortion bans already on the books were rendered null and void.
The Supreme Court's decision changed the national landscape for abortion access by unilaterally voiding state bans.
But in the nearly 50 years since, subsequent court rulings and dozens of new laws have chipped away at abortion rights.
Recent laws have brought the issue of abortion back to the nation’s highest court.
The state’s sole medical clinic that provides abortions filed a lawsuit against the legislation.
That case — Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health — landed in front of the Supreme Court in December 2021.
PROTESTS ON CAPITOL HILL
Following the leak, hundreds of activists took to the streets of Washington DC within minutes of the news, where screaming crowds formed outside the court building.
Steel fencings were set up outside the court perimeter by law enforcement as a precaution, as well as barricades to keep anti and pro-abortion activists separated.
The leaking of the document itself is unprecedented, given the secrecy of the Supreme Court.
“To the extent, this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. The work of the Court will not be affected in any way,” Roberts said in a written statement.
“This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here.”
Senate minority leader McConnell called for the leaker’s prosecution.
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“Somebody, likely somebody inside the court itself, leaked a confidential brief to the press, to stir up a pressure campaign,” he said.
“Whoever committed this lawless act knew exactly what it could bring about."