US: Supreme Court to repeal abortion law, leaked draft shows
The Supreme Court of the United States is set to strike down the legal right to abortion if a leaked draft of a majority opinion is to be believed. Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the draft, called the landmark 1973 Roe vs Wade decision "egregiously wrong," reported Politico, which accessed the draft. The draft was circulated inside the top court dominated by conservatives.
- Abortion was illegal in several American states until the Roe vs Wade ruling gave women an absolute right to an abortion in the first trimester and limited rights in the second.
- If the leaked draft is actually the final word, it'll lead to abortion bans in half the states.
- Meanwhile, the leak itself is an "extremely rare breach" of the SC's confidential deliberation process.
In the 1973 Roe vs Wade case, the US Supreme Court ruled that access to abortion is a woman's constitutional right. Moreover, in Planned Parenthood vs Casey (1992), the top court upheld the right to have an abortion that was established in Roe vs Wade until the fetus is viable outside the womb, which is generally around 22 to 24 weeks of gestation.
Reproductive rights in the US are witnessing an increasing threat of late with several states seeking stricter restrictions, while others want a complete ban on abortions after six weeks. Many women don't even know if they're pregnant before six weeks. President Joe Biden and his Democrats are reportedly fighting to protect access to the abortion procedure, while the right-wing Republicans want it completely overturned.
The leaked document pertains to a case—Dobbs vs Jackson Women's Health Organization—challenging Mississippi's 2018 law banning abortions after 15 weeks. Politico quoted the "1st Draft" of the "Opinion of the Court" to state: "There is no constitutional right to abortion services and would allow individual states to more heavily regulate or outright ban the procedure." The ruling in the case is expected in June-July.
According to the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute, 26 states will most likely ban abortion if Roe vs Wade is overturned. Of those, 22 states have already total or near-total bans on the books. Texas and four other states—Florida, Indiana, Montana, and Nebraska—are likely to pass bans. Whereas, 16 states and the District of Columbia have protected access to abortion in state law.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, 6,30,000 abortions were reported in the US in 2019. In 2010, the figure was 18% higher. The year 2019 also saw about 57% of women in their 20s getting abortions. The abortion rate among Black American women was the highest at 27 per 1,000 aged between 15and 44 years.
