Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky and Missouri are among 13 states, mainly in the South and Midwest, that already have laws on the books to ban abortion in the event Roe was overturned. Clinic escorts wearing colorful vests used large speakers to blast Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” at the protesters. Outside, men used a bullhorn to tell people inside that they would burn in hell. Mississippi’s only abortion clinic, which was at the center of Friday’s case, continued to see patients Friday. More than 90% of abortions take place in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, and more than half are now done with pills, not surgery, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. In particular, Garland said the federal Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of Mifepristone for medication abortions. “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, warning that abortion opponents now could pursue a nationwide ban “from the moment of conception and without exceptions for rape or incest.”Īttorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the Justice Department will protect providers and those seeking abortions in states where it is legal and “work with other arms of the federal government that seek to use their lawful authorities to protect and preserve access to reproductive care.” Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan - the diminished liberal wing of the court - were in dissent. Roe and Casey must be overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote, in an opinion that was very similar to the leaked draft. “We therefore hold that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. Casey, the 1992 decision that reaffirmed the right to abortion, were wrong had and to be be overturned.

The ruling came more than a month after the stunning leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito indicating the court was prepared to take this momentous step.Īlito, in the final opinion issued Friday, wrote that Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Surveys consistently show that about 1 in 10 Americans want abortion to be illegal in all cases. But many also support restrictions especially later in pregnancy. Surveys conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and others have shown a majority in favor of abortion being legal in all or most circumstances. It also puts the court at odds with a majority of Americans who favored preserving Roe, according to opinion polls.

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