The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the constitutional right to an abortion, reversing Roe v. Wade, the court's five-decade-old decision that guaranteed a woman's right to obtain an abortion.
"The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority," the court's conservatives wrote in their majority opinion. The Court overrules those decisions and returns that authority to the people and their elected representatives."
The three liberals dissented.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote the opinion of the case, in which Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett joined.
Justices Thomas and Kavanaugh filed concurring opinions. Chief Justice John Roberts filed an concurring opinion.
Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.
"With sorrow — for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection — we dissent," they wrote.
This story will be updated.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
