WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a landmark 1973 court ruling that established abortion as a constitutional right, revoking the right from women and shifting authority over the procedure to states.
“The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision,” the majority opinion announced Friday said. “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.”
States across the country will now have the legal authority to ban abortion outright for the first time in 50 years. Thirteen states are already positioned to do so with “trigger laws” in place that will activate with the end of Roe. They are: Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wyoming. Additional states are preparing to do the same or to pass restrictions that will strictly limit access to abortion.
