THE United States Supreme Court today ended the right to abortion in a seismic ruling that shreds half a century of constitutional protection on one of the most bitterly fought and divisive issues in American political life.

The conservative-dominated court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade decision that enshrines a woman’s right to an abortion, saying that individual states can now permit or restrict the procedure themselves.

“The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. Roe and Casey are overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives,” said the court.

Justice Samuel Alito, in the majority opinion, said “abortion presents a profound moral issue, on which Americans hold sharply conflicting views.”

“The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each state from regulating or prohibiting abortion.”

Dissenting were the three liberals on the court.

The ruling will likely set into motion a cavalcade of new laws in roughly half of the 50 states that will severely restrict or outright ban and criminalise abortions, forcing women to travel long distances to states that still permit the procedure.

The opinion shredded the Roe v Wade ruling by the highest court in the country that said women have the right to abortion based on the constitutional right to privacy over their own bodies.

Alito’s opinion largely mirrors his draft opinion that was the subject of an extraordinary leak in early May, sparking demonstrations around the country and tightened security at the court in downtown Washington.

Barricades were erected to keep back the protesters gathered outside – after an armed man was arrested near the home of conservative justice Brett Kavanaugh on June 8.

The court’s ruling goes against an international trend of easing abortion laws, including in countries such as Argentina, Ireland, Mexico and Colombia where the Catholic Church continues to wield considerable influence.

Victory for religious right

It represents a victory of 50 years of struggle against abortion by the religious right, but the anti-abortion camp is expected to continue to push for an outright nationwide ban.

The ruling is made possible by the nomination of three conservative justices to the court by former Republican president Donald Trump – Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett.

The case before the court was a Mississippi law that would restrict abortion to 15 weeks but during the hearing of the case in December, several justices indicated they were prepared to go further.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, 13 states have adopted so-called “trigger laws” that will ban abortion following the move by the Supreme Court.

Ten others have pre-1973 laws that can go into force or legislation that will ban abortion after six weeks, before many women even know they are pregnant.

Women living in states with strict anti-abortion laws will either have to continue with their pregnancy, undergo a clandestine abortion, obtain abortion pills or travel long distances to states that still permit the procedure.

Several Democratic-ruled states, anticipating an influx, have taken steps to facilitate abortion and clinics have also shifted their resources.

Travel is expensive, however, and abortion rights groups said abortion restrictions will severely impact poor women, many of whom are Black or Hispanic. – AFP, June 24, 2022.