Widely seen as one of the most consequential decisions by the Supreme Court, one is that many women infringe on their rights over their bodies, a decision that would result in an almost immediate ban on abortion, some With exceptions, most conservative, Republican-ruled states.
The ruling came along ideological lines, with the court’s six conservative judges, including five men, voting to effectively strike the constitutionally protected right to abortion, and three liberal judges (including two women) dissenting. .
“With sadness—for this Court, but more so, for the millions of American women who have lost a fundamental constitutional protection today—we disagree,” wrote Justices Stephen Breuer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
led by conservative judges Samuel Alito And Clarence Thomas noted that “Roe was seriously wrong from the start. Its argument was extraordinarily weak, and the decision has had disastrous consequences. And far from bringing about a national solution to the abortion issue, Rowe and Casey have stirred up debate and deepened divisions.”
Abortion rights activists and groups, which say the court’s ruling will turn women into second-class citizens, estimate that 36 million women — nearly half of women of reproductive age in the U.S. — live in about 30 states that will be affected by the ruling. .
house speaker Nancy Pelosic Called the ruling a “slap on the face of women”.
“Today the Republican-controlled Supreme Court has achieved its dark, extreme goal of taking away a woman’s right to make her own reproductive health decisions. Because Donald TrumpMitch McConnell, The Republican Party And their supremacy over the Supreme Court, American women today have less freedom than their mothers,” she said, “with Roe and her attempt to destroy it, radical Republicans proceed with their crusade to criminalize health liberties.” growing up.”
The court’s ruling is with the majority of Americans, who polls show are pro-choice. They could arguably legislate their pro-choice views through the House of Representatives—a demographically non-representative, geography-driven body (two senators per state, regardless of population), except for a certain blockade in the Senate. Which gives disproportionate power to the people with less population. , conservative state.
The current US Supreme Court is also a creature of the Senate, the court’s conservative majority created by three appointees of former President Donald Trump, his confirmation when Republicans controlled the Senate, based on, among other things, his anti-abortion stance.
Within the past week, the US Supreme Court has ruled that religious schools are eligible for public funding and overhauled strict gun control laws in New York state, expanding gun rights at a time America is in the throes of the gun violence epidemic. Used to be.
The latest ruling is expected to test the legitimacy of the Supreme Court, whose reputation has suffered a steep decline. A recent Gallup poll showed that only 25 percent of Americans have confidence in the top court; The number among Democrats is as low as 13 percent. watch Constitutional protections for abortion: US Supreme Court formally strikes down Roe v. Wade