‘Blood on their hands’: world’s medics condemn US overturn of abortion rights

Pro-choice activists say overturning Roe v Wade is an ‘unconscionable attack’ on women’s rights. Photograph: Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP

Doctors and pro-choice activists have condemned the overturning of Roe v Wade, describing it as an “unconscionable attack” that will leave the supreme court justices with “blood on their hands” and cause a global chilling effect on women’s rights.

In a statement signed by more than 100 global healthcare organisations, including the UK’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), medics said the US supreme court’s move was “a catastrophic blow” to millions. The statement, also signed by the RCOG’s faculty of sexual and reproductive healthcare, warned: “It is a decision that will cost lives for years to come.”