Supreme Court Officially Overturns Roe v. Wade

The Supreme Court ended nearly 50 years of constitutional protection for abortion rights in a 6-3 vote. The legality of and access to abortion will now be determined by the states, with half of them likely to ban it altogether, affecting about 36 million women of reproductive age.
The case: Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, challenged Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks. The court ruled in favor of Dobbs, overturning Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey and ending the constitutional right to abortion.
Over a month ago, a leaked draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito suggested that the court was prepared to make this decision. In the final opinion, the court decided that it was wrong in its decisions made in Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, that “the constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.”
Justices Alito, Clarence Thomas, Niel Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett all voted to overturn abortion. The latter three judges were Trump appointees.
The three liberal judges, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagen wrote, “With sorrow-for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection-we dissent.”
Thirteen states already have laws that ban abortion once Roe v. Wade is overturned and six states have bans and prohibitions on the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy.
The Supreme Court ruled against most Americans, who support abortion rights. This decision is most likely to impact minority and low-income women, who already have minimal healthcare access and struggle to find sufficient care, in addition to not having the resources to get the procedure in states where abortion rights are protected.
This ruling does not only affect abortion rights but also puts into question the constitutional protection of gay rights and potentially, contraception in general. In their dissent, the liberal justices continued: The majority “eliminates a 50-year-old constitutional right that safeguards women’s freedom and equal station. It breaches a core rule-of-law principle, designed to promote constancy in the law. In doing all of that, it places in jeopardy of other rights, from contraception to same-sex intimacy and marriage. And finally, it undermines the Court’s legitimacy.” Though Justice Alito stated that this analysis addresses abortion only.