Supreme Court Overturns Roe Vs. Wade, Ending Right To Abortion

The Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in a 5-4 voting decision, ending the constitutional rights to abortion after over 50 years.

This ruling will transform the landscape of women’s reproductive health in America.  

However, abortion rights will be determined by states, unless Congress acts.  Already, nearly half of the states have or will pass laws that ban abortion while others have enacted strict measures regulating the procedure.  

States like California are already putting things in motion to protect women’s rights. Businesses are also joining forces to help women maintain control of the decisions they make with their bodies. DICK’S Sporting Goods posted a statement on social media following the ruling.

“In response to today’s ruling, we are announcing that if the state you live in restricts access to abortion, DICK’S Sporting Goods will provide up to $4,000 in travel expenses reimbursement to travel to the nearest location where that care is legally available. This benefit will be provided to any teammate, spouse or dependent enrolled in our medical plan, along with one support person.”

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973),^[1] was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States generally protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion. The decision, which struck down many U.S. federal and states abortion laws, fueled an ongoing debate in the United States about whether, or to what extent, abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of abortion, and what the role of moral and religious views in the political sphere should be.

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his majority opinion. “Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”

In a joint dissenting opinion, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan heavily criticized the majority, closing: “With sorrow – for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection – we dissent.”

At least 21 states have laws or constitutional amendments already in place that would make them certain to attempt to ban abortion as quickly as possible, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which favors abortion rights. And an additional four states are likely to ban abortions as soon as possible without federal protections.

Chief Justice John Roberts did not join the majority, writing in a concurring opinion that he would not have overturned Roe but instead would have only upheld Mississippi’s law banning abortions after 15 weeks.

President Joe Biden said Friday from the White House “the health and life of women in this nation are now at risk.” He added, “It’s a sad day for the court and for the country.” He’s calling for Congress to codify the right to an abortion.