Washington, June 24, 2022 – La US Supreme Court abolished the historic Roe v. Wade ruling with which, in 1973, he had legalized abortion In the USA. Today’s decision therefore delegates to individual States the application of their laws on the matter, with the risk that terminating a pregnancy will become illegal. In fact, out of 50 states, 26 (including Texas and Oklahoma) have more restrictive laws on the matter. Nine have abortion limits that precede the ‘Roe v. Wade ‘, and which have not yet been enforced but may now become effective, while 13 have so-called’ dormant bans’ which should go into effect immediately.
The decision was made by six votes in favor and three against (liberal judges Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer) in the ‘Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization’ case, in which the judges upheld the Mississippi law which prohibits termination of pregnancy after 15 weeks. The only remaining clinic in the state to offer an abortion had been appealed. “Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each state from regulating or prohibiting abortion,” the judges write.
The reactions
Meanwhile, outside the Supreme Court they are underway protests. This is a “constitutional earthquake” that will have consequences for the years to come, argue the three liberal judges “With regret – for this Court, but above all for the many millions of American women that today they have lost fundamental constitutional protectionwe disagree “with this decision, say Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan who voted against.
“The Roe against Wade was blatantly wrong from the start – writes the judge instead Samuel Alito in the device -. His reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision had detrimental consequences. “” It inflamed the debate – continues – and widened the divisions. ” leader of the Republicans Kevin McCarthy, who speaks of “historic sentence that saves lives”.
The Roe-Wade judgment
In the United States abortion it had become legal thanks to the Judgment in the case of Jane Roe (whose real name was Norma McCorvey) in the trial against the Texas institutions, represented by attorney Wade. In that trial the Supreme Court decided that the state cannot intervene on the most intimate decisions, such as the termination of a pregnancy. This ruling represented one of the main precedents for the abortion legislation, essentially guaranteeing access to it at the federal level.