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Reproductive rights

What’s at stake if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v Wade?

May 6, 2022

TOPSHOT - A pro-choice protester holds up a coat hanger, a symbol of the reproductive rights movement, that reads "We Will Not Go Back" outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC on May 3, 2022. - The Supreme Court is poised to strike down the right to abortion in the US, according to a leaked draft of a majority opinion that would shred nearly 50 years of constitutional protections. The draft, obtained by Politico, was written by Justice Samuel Alito, and has been circulated inside the conservative-dominated court, the news outlet reported. Politico stressed that the document it obtained is a draft and opinions could change. The court is expected to issue a decision by June. The draft opinion calls the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade decision "egregiously wrong from the start." (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Women have had the legal right to an abortion in America since Roe v Wade, a Supreme Court ruling in 1973. But the leak of a draft majority opinion suggests the court may overturn Roe, returning to America’s states the right to legislate on abortion. If so, half of the states are expected to outlaw abortion. That will fundamentally set back women’s rights, and may yet jeopardise many other civil liberties in America.
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