The Supreme Court ruled earlier today (per nearly every major news source, including USA Today, Fox News and CBS News ) that abortion is no longer a constitutional right for Americans; the Court overturned the Roe V. Wade ruling that had been in place for nearly five decades.
A 6-3 majority of the justices ruled that the right to end a pregnancy was not found in the Constitution, nor in the nation’s history. Associate Justice Samuel Alito wrote the opinion for a 6-3 majority. “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” he wrote. “Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences… It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
As Alito’s statement alludes, the decision instantly shifts the focus of this extremely divisive issue to the states: states led by Republicans are likely to ban abortion, while states led by Democrats are likely to reinforce protections for the procedure.
