The United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday in a 6-3 vote which held that abortion is not a constitutional right. Twenty-six states had petitioned the court to overrule the abortion precedent.
“The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his majority opinion.
The case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, had challenged Mississippi’s law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Justice Alito appeared to address the recent protests and attacks on pro-life centers across the United States in anticipation of the court’s ruling, asserting that they would not impact the court’s decision.
“We do not pretend to know how our political system or society will respond to today’s decision overruling Roe and Casey. And even if we could foresee what will happen, we would have no authority to let that knowledge influence our decision,” Alito wrote. “We can only do our job, which is to interpret the law, apply longstanding principles of stare decisis, and decide this case accordingly.”
“We therefore hold that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. Roe and Casey must be overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives,” he added.
Alito’s opinion was supported by the Justices Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett. The dissent was filed by the court’s liberal justices: Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer, and Sonya Sotomayor.
In the dissenting opinion, the Justices argued that the court’s majority opinion “says that from the very moment of fertilization, a woman has no rights to speak of” and called the decision “draconian.”
Thirteen states have so-called “trigger laws” which are designed to immediately ban abortion when Roe v. Wade is overturned, including Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee, according to the New York Post.
Four more states – Montana, Indiana, Nebraska and Florida – are likely to pass legislation restricting abortion.
Pro-abortion activists flooded the capital on Friday in anticipation of the court’s ruling.
Pro-life demonstrators also waiting outside the court erupted in cheers when the decision was announced.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted footage from outside the Supreme Court after the decision was released.
“I think it’s a miracle. I’m so thrilled. I’ve cried about this. We prayed about this. Everybody here is celebrating,” Greene told RSBN in an interview outside the court. “The Supreme Court had the courage, they had the bravery. Overturning Roe versus Wade, giving it back to the States, and hopefully this can be the beginning of the end of abortion.”
“Our prayers were answers at the Supreme Court today! Roe is overturned and we are one step closer to ending the mass genocide of abortion in America,” she tweeted.
Ahead of the demonstration, a pro-abortion group advised participants to take action that “stretch[es] the bounds of constitutionally protected speech.”
A draft of the decision was leaked last month and published by Politico, revealing the court’s plans to overturn Roe v. Wade. The leak prompted weeks of protests outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., as well as the justices private homes, culminating in the attempted assassination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The 98-page document dated Feb. 10, 2022 and denoted “1st Draft” was authored by Justice Alito, who said, “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled … It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
