June 24, (THEWILL) – The US Supreme Court on Friday, ended the right to abortion in a seismic ruling that shreds half a century of constitutional protections on one of the most divisive and bitterly fought issues in American political history.
The ruling reverses 50 years of precedent from the landmark 1973 case that gave women in the U.S. the right under federal law to terminate a pregnancy, and a subsequent 1992 decision (Planned Parenthood v. Casey) that largely maintained the right.
“The Court finds that the right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the Nation’s history and tradition. 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”, the Apex Court held.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the court, in light of this decision, should reconsider precedents in cases that protected the right to contraception, sexual relations and same-sex marriage.
The Supreme Court was sealed off with a security barrier, as demonstrators on both sides of the issue gathered in anticipation of a ruling.
However, in a majority opinion, penned by Justice Samuel Alito, with Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett joining him in the majority, the landmark 1973 “Roe v Wade” constitutional protections were overturned.
The final vote was a very clear 6-3, with Chief Justice Roberts concurring in part, and Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissenting.
The three justices wrote in the dissent that the majority “says that from the very moment of fertilisation, a woman has no rights to speak, a State can force her to bring a pregnancy to term, even at the steepest personal and familial costs.
“An abortion restriction, the majority holds, is permissible whenever rational, the lowest level of scrutiny known to the law. And because, as the Court has often stated, protecting foetal life is rational, States will feel free to enact all manner of restrictions.
“Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives”, Alito wrote in the majority opinion.”
The ruling on Friday will lead to a wave of abortion restrictions across the country, especially in states with so-called trigger laws or pre-existing laws in place that can be easily activated or enforced by conservative legislators.
The Centre for Reproductive Rights had calculated if the Supreme Court were to limit or overturn Roe, abortion would remain accessible in 25 states and likely would be prohibited in 25 states and three territories including Georgia, a key Hollywood production hub.
The others are Alabama, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, Guam, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, the Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
It added that “concern is warranted” in New Hampshire, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Virginia, where abortion rights are not protected by state law.
The ruling also brings abortion back to the fore in Georgia, a center of movie and TV production.
The state had already weathered a battle over choice that created an uproar among executives and creatives. A law passed by Georgia pols and signed by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2020 banned abortion after six weeks — before most women know they’re pregnant.
Producers from Netflix, Disney, WarnerMedia (now Warner Bros Discovery), NBCUniversal, AMC Networks, Sony, CBS and Viacom, had publicly questioned whether they would remain in Georgia if the ban went into effect.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, then chief content officer, had said the streaming giant would “rethink our entire investment in Georgia” if legislation known as the “heartbeat bill” became state law. It outlawed most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected.
“We have many women working on productions in Georgia, whose rights, along with millions of others, will be severely restricted by this law,” Sarandos said. “It’s why we will work with the ACLU and others to fight it in court. Given the legislation has not yet been implemented, we’ll continue to film there — while also supporting partners and artists who choose not to. Should it ever come into effect, we’d rethink our entire investment in Georgia.”
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