Protests have erupted outside the US Supreme Court after a majority of justices voted to overturn Roe v Wade, which had been protecting American women's right to abortion for nearly five decades.
“The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives” the ruling said.
Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the Supreme Court’s written opinion, said the US Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of states from regulating or prohibiting abortion and the Roe and Casey decisions abrogated that authority.
Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented from the court’s majority decision, arguing that overruling the Roe decision discarded a “balance” between the competing values of protecting the life of unborn children and safeguarding a woman’s health and life. The Roe and Casey decisions maintained that balance, the justices said. The dissenting justices criticized the majority’s decision and said that it will certainly result in the “curtailment of women’s rights” and status as equal citizens.
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