According to reports the US Supreme Court is set to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade judgment. The judgment was crucial in legalizing abortion in the US. Read to find out more about the judgment and why it is important?
What is the Roe v. Wade?
The 1973 judgment, also referred to as Roe, is the name of 22-year-old plaintiff Norma McCovey. And ‘Wade’ is the name of the defendant Henry Wade, a Dallas County district attorney back then. Roe struck down laws making abortion illegal in several US states. Additionally, it is also ruled that abortion would be allowed up to point of foetal viability This is the time after which the fetus is capable of surviving outside the womb. At the time of the Roe judgment, fetal viability was about 28 weeks. As per experts, current medical technology has brought the threshold to about 23 or 24 weeks.
Politico unearthed the first draft of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion reported by Justice Samuel Alito. The document was reported by Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh, four conservative justices. The case is also famous as the “Mississippi case”. Additionally, Politico reported that three Democratic-appointed justices were working on the dissents. The Mississippi law is a 2018 legislature banning abortions after the 15th week, challenging the 1973 judgment.
More on the judgment
According to the draft option revealed, Alito rejected Roe v. Wade for bringing “egregiously wrong from the start”. Additionally, Alito held Roe and Casey, another landmark judgment from 1992 reaffirmed Roe. It added that women have the right to terminate a pregnancy until the point of the fetus’ viability. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,” quoted Politico. As per the draft ruling, Roe’s survey of history ranged from the constitutionally irrelevant to the plainly incorrect”. Additionally, it states that the reasoning was very weak and that the decision has “damaging consequences”. “The inescapable conclusion is that a right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the Nation’s history and traditions,” it added.
Why is the Supreme Court decision important?
The abortion issue is splitting the conservatives and liberals in the US for several years. Until a few years ago, Roe v. Wade has the possibility of succeeding. However, the change in conservative judges during the Trump administration changed the issue. In case of the court confirm’s Justice Alito’s initial draft and overturns the judgment, over half of the American states will “likely or almost certainly” ban abortions.
Based on how the court reveals its final judgment, access to legal abortion can “effectively end for those living in much of the American South and Midwest, especially those who are poor”. Liberals are predicting “seismic” changes in US society if Roe v. Wade overturns. It is going to be an important decision across the world. Additionally, the report adds that “No draft decision in the modern history of the court has been disclosed publicly while a case was still pending”.