Which Supreme Court Justices Voted For Roe v Wade Overturn?

Which Supreme Court Justices Voted For Roe v Wade Overturn?

According to Politico, four additional judges, all of whom were selected by Republican presidents, voted in favor of abolishing the law: Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.

According to a leaked draft judgment released on Monday, the Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion in the United States.

Abortion Rights Overturned

Politico received a copy of the manuscript. It was written by Justice Samuel Alito, one of the six justices on the Supreme Court who were nominated by a Republican president, and it overturned Roe v Wade and the 1992 Planned Parenthood vs Casey decision.

If and when the draft is finalized, the decision eliminates the federal right to abortion in the United States, leaving it up to elected authorities in each state to decide whether or not women should be able to have abortions.

If Roe v. Wade is reversed, abortion will be illegal in 26 states, thus prohibiting the procedure in more than half of the country. Restrictive abortion regulations are already in effect in eighteen states.

The announcement sent shockwaves through Washington, D.C., with Democrats threatening to codify the legal right to abortion into law and Republicans demanding an investigation into the leak, claiming it was done to try to sway the Supreme Court before its final ruling.

The Supreme Court building was briefly barricaded Monday night, maybe fearing backlash, before being observed by security.

Protesters flocked in great numbers to the gates, with some standing and yelling and others sitting outside the structure and lighting candles in silence. A small group of counter-protesters gathered as well.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights think tank, twenty-six states are guaranteed or likely to restrict abortion if Roe v. Wade is reversed.

Apart from Texas, 22 states have already enacted whole or near-total bans on the books currently barred by Roe.

What Happened in Roe v Wade?

Nearly 50 years ago, the Roe v. Wade judgment acknowledged that a woman’s right to privacy under the US Constitution protects her ability to terminate her pregnancy.

The Supreme Court ruled on January 22, 1973, that the constitutional right to privacy applied to abortion.

Norma McCorvey, a single mother who was pregnant for the third time and desired an abortion, was known as ‘Jane Roe.’

She brought a lawsuit against Dallas Attorney General Henry Wade over a Texas law that made terminating a pregnancy illegal save in circumstances of rape or incest, or where the mother’s life was in danger.

Roe’s lawyers said she couldn’t get an abortion outside of the state and that the legislation was too vague, infringing on her constitutional rights.

Texas doctor James Hallford joined her in filing a lawsuit, claiming that the law’s medical provision was ambiguous and that he couldn’t reliably establish which of his patients fit into the approved group.

Another childless couple, the ‘Does,’ filed a parallel complaint, claiming that medical concerns made it unsafe but not life-threatening for the woman to carry a baby to term, and contending that if she became pregnant, they should be entitled to receive a safe, legal abortion.

A lady who wanted an abortion, a doctor who wanted to perform them, and a non-pregnant woman who wanted the right to have one if she needed it eventually reached the nation’s highest court.

The court heard arguments twice before deferring until November 1972, after Republican President Richard Nixon was re-elected.

Only in January of the following year did it issue its landmark seven-to-two judgment, overturning Texas statutes and establishing a legal precedent that has repercussions in all 50 states.