Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade, Eliminates Constitutional Right to Abortion

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By Brent Kendall and Jess Bravin, The Wall Street Journal

The court upholds law from Mississippi that bans abortion after 15 weeks, opens door to widespread prohibitions on the procedure

Protesters gathered in Columbus, Ohio, in support of abortion rights after the Supreme Court ruling on Friday. (BARBARA J. PERENIC/THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH/AP)

The Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, overruling the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and leaving the question of abortion’s legality to the states.

The court’s decision upheld a law from Mississippi that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, roughly two months earlier than what has been allowed under Supreme Court precedent dating back to Roe.

In doing so, the court’s conservative majority said the Roe de cision was egregiously wrong in recognizing a constitutional right to an abortion, an error the court perpetuated in the decades since.

“The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court.

“It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,” he wrote in his opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Learn more about this ruling.

Unfortunately, this was expected, in part because white women voters ignore Black women. Discover the barriers Black women face when seeking abortions.

Get more breaking news.

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