On June 24, the US Supreme Court overturned constitutional protections for abortion that had been ruled by the conservative majority for nearly 50 years, overturning Roe vs Wade. The US Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling driven by its conservative majority, upheld a Republican-backed Mississippi law that prohibits abortion after 15 weeks. Friday’s results are expected to ban abortions in about half of the states.

The Landmark 1973 judgment vs Wade judgment recognises a woman’s constitutional right to abortion. It legalises it nationwide, handing over a significant victory to Republicans and religious conservatives who want to limit or ban the process.

Promises to be impact converters. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organisation supporting the right to abortion, 26 states will ban or possibly ban almost all abortions. Thirteen have so-called trigger laws that are designed to make abortion illegal when the stone is overturned.

The decision, which could not have been imagined even a few years ago, is the culmination of decades of efforts by anti-abortion activists made possible by the courageous three-member court of former US President Donald Trump.
The ruling comes a month after a dramatic leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito that the court is ready to take this important step. According to opinion polls, this led the court to disagree with most Americans in favour of saving Rock.

Proponents of abortion rights say the reversal of the ROC would have a devastating effect, threatening decades of economic gain for women and depriving millions of people of the right to make deep personal health-care decisions. They say the impact will be particularly large for black and Hispanic women, who are more likely to lack the funds and ability to take work leave to travel outside the state for an abortion.

The decision could start a fight on multiple new fronts, including an effort to prevent patients from travelling to clinics across state lines and taking abortion-induced pills by post.