What is Roe v Wade verdict which US SC overturned, changing women's constitutional rights?

US Supreme Court on Friday officially overturned the landmark Roe V Wade ruling of 1973 and took away women’s right to abortion. With the unprecedented reversal of a decades-old ruling, more than half of US states are now allowed to ban abortion, leaving an immediate and enduring impact on millions of American nationals. In a rare move, America’s apex court decided that there was no constitutional right to abortion in a case called Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization. 

Subsequently, in a 6-3 vote in the conservative-majority court, Roe V Wade was overturned after 50 years. As a result, states, especially the ones with a Republican majority, will be permitted to ban or introduce severe restrictions on abortion. The Supreme Court's move has triggered doubts around liberty, self-determination and even personal autonomy in a country which has worn its constitutional rights like a badge on the global stage. 

What is the Roe V Wade ruling of 1973?

Roe v. Wade refers to the name of the lawsuit that led to the landmark verdict of the US Supreme Court and paved way for the establishment of a constitutional right to abortion in the US. At the time, the majority opinion found an absolute right to an abortion during the first trimester of the pregnancy. 

This 1973 case is often referred to as just “Roe” which comes from Jane Roe, a pseudonym for Norma McCorvey, who was a 22-year-old unmarried, unemployed and pregnant for the third time in 1969. That’s when she sought to have an abortion in Texas however, by the time US Supreme Court ruled in her favour, in a one-of-a-kind decision, McCorvey had given birth to a girl whom she had placed for adoption. 

“Wade” refers to Henry Wade who was the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas. It was his job to enforce a state law banning abortion even though according to Roe, it endangered her life. Therefore, Wade was the person that McCorvey sued when she sought the abortion in a state prohibiting the same. According to an AP report, McCorvey had conflicted feelings about each side of the abortion debate, however, was adamant on one point – supporting abortion through the first trimester.

What was the 1973 landmark ruling by SC?

The 22-year-old plaintiff had alleged that the Texas law banning abortion was unconstitutionally vague and it also violated her constitutionally protected right to personal privacy. The court decided in her favour after the jury was posed with the question of the US Consitution recognising a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy by abortion.

With a 7-2 majority, Justice Harry Blackmun had delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court that it was a woman’s constitutional right to carry on with abortion. Although, he noted that protection had to be balanced against the government’s interests in safeguarding the health of women and “the potentiality of human life”. In the 1973 landmark ruling, the conservative-leaning court said that a woman’s decision to have an abortion during the first trimester, three months of the pregnancy, must be left up to her own discretion. 

Abortion rights in US before ‘Roe v Wade’ ruling

Before the Roe v. Wade ruling, abortion was broadly legal in just four out of the 50 states. The medical procedure to terminate the pregnancy was allowed in limited form in 16 other states. In the US, constitutional rights overpower the state laws, so the court’s decision nullified the bans in the remaining 30 states. The ruling also provided freedom for states to impose certain regulations during the second trimester to protect the woman’s health and take steps to protect fetal life in the third trimester.

Why US overturned Roe v Wade after 50 years?

Just weeks after ‘Politico’ obtained a published leaked draft opinion from conservative Justice Samuel Alito, the court ruled on Friday to overturn the Roe V Wade decision. While details of the June 24 ruling were not immediately obtained, the draft, which was on the same opinion had criticised the 1973 ruling.

In an opinion dated February 10, Alito wrote, “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled…It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

It is pertinent to note that Alito’s opinion was already backed by four other conservative justices in the panel including Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett when Politico published the leaked document. The draft opinion was written in the ‘Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization’ case. The case challenged Mississippi's ban on abortion after 15 weeks. 

Image: AP