The Supreme Court handed down a 6-3 ruling.
QUICK FACTS:
- The United States Supreme Court has overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that gave federal protection to abortion.
- The court’s ruling Friday morning in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was a challenge to Mississippi’s abortion law, which bans virtually all abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy.
- The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling included Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett who joined Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion.
- Chief Justice John Roberts did not join the opinion, but filed a separate, agreeing opinion and voted in favor of the pro-life ruling.
- The court’s three liberals, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, filed a joint dissent.
WHAT THE SUPREME COURT’S RULING IN DOBBS MEANS:
- The court’s decision in Dobbs was one of the most anticipated rulings in decades, considering that it overturns not only Roe but Planned Parenthood v. Casey of 1992, which solidified women’s right to end their pregnancy before the birth of their children.
- While the lack of federal protection for abortion is a long-anticipated step for many pro-life groups, it’s not the end of abortion rights in the United States.
- The result of the Dobbs ruling is that the federal government will no longer step in to prevent a state from outlawing abortion within its own borders.
- It’s currently believed, due to an analysis by the Guttmacher Institute, that 26 states are likely to ban all or nearly all abortions.
READ THE COURT’S FULL DECISION:
BACKGROUND:
- Since the 1973 case offering widespread access to abortion, nationwide, an estimated 63 million abortions have been conducted in the United States.
- The recently updated data from the National Right to Life Coalition states that for every 1,000 live births, there have been about 195 abortions.
- New data from the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute shows that as of 2020 “one in five pregnancies ended in abortion.”
