American news agency Politico publishing the draft opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) overruling the Roe v/s Wade case has ignited a huge debate in the United States of America over abortion rights in the country. As reported by the news agency, The US Supreme Court has decided by an internal majority against the landmark 1973 Roe v/s Wade Judgment decriminalizing abortion and making it a constitutional right.
The Supreme Court has voted to strike down Roe v. Wade, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito and obtained by POLITICO.
— POLITICO (@politico) May 3, 2022
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Alito writes. https://t.co/nl3JFLx9xg
Apparently, the first draft has been written by Conservative appointed Justice Samuel Alito and supported by four other Justices including Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. The draft challenges provisions in the ‘Thomas E Dobbs, State Health Officer of the Mississippi Department of Health vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organisation’ or simply the Mississippi case. With the Five Justices supporting the move to overrule Abortion as a ‘fundamental right’ in America, it will likely be passed with a 5-4 majority in the Supreme Court.
As of now three Democrats-appointed justices – Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan have opposed the move. Chief Justice John Roberts is yet to express his opinion on the draft. As soon as the news broke, liberal democrats who consider abortion a fundamental human right over one’s body gathered outside the Supreme Court building to protest over the probable ruling. The Internet has since been flooded with extreme opinions on whether abortions should be allowed after foetal viability, that is, the time after which a foetus can survive outside the mother’s womb.
Protesters are gathering right now at the vicinity of the #US #SupremeCourt to protest against the repeal of #RoeVWade. pic.twitter.com/cDbFH2PrF6
— Jacuzzi Archive (@JacuzziArchive) May 3, 2022
What is the Roe v/s Wade judgement?
In 1973, The U.S. Supreme Court in the Roe V/s Wade case made a landmark decision protecting a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. The decision struck down many U.S. federal and state laws relating to the abortion of the foetus. In this case, ‘Roe’ is the listed name of the 22-year-old pregnant Norma McCorvey whereas ‘Wade’ was the defendant Henry Wade, the district attorney from Dallas, Texas.
With abortion for pregnant women becoming legal, several laws that made abortion illegal in states across America were struck down by the Supreme Court decision. At the time of the Roe v/s Wade Judgement, the foetal viability was around 28 weeks or 7 months. With advances in medical science over time, the threshold has now been brought down to 23 or 24 weeks (around 6 months) in many cases. The draft by Justice Alito notes, “We hold that Roe (Roe v/s Wade) and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.”
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement on the abortion issue, Roe v/s Casey has enflamed debate and deepened division,” Justice Samuel Alito opined.
Conservative states rethinking abortion Laws
Apart from the draft in the Supreme Court, the state of Mississippi is also thinking about introducing a law which would ban almost all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. However, The US federal courts blocked the law because it violated the legal protections granted to pregnant women. The draft to strike down the 1973 abortion ruling has leaked at a time when Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt is set to approve a law which bans most abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy.
In 2018, the Republican majority state of Mississippi banned most abortions after 15 weeks, much before the general consideration for foetal viability. However, US District Judge struck it down after an abortion service centre – Jackson Women’s Health Organisation, which provided abortion up to sixteen weeks of pregnancy challenged the law. The law is famously known as the Mississippi Law. Further in March 2019, another law called ‘The heartbeat law’ brought by Republican Governor Phil Bryant was struck down. The law sought to ban abortions once cardiac activity in the foetus could be detected, which is around six weeks.
‘Abortion is healthcare’: Abortion rights supporters have gathered outside the US Supreme Court in protest over a leaked draft ruling that would overturn the landmark Roe v Wade case law https://t.co/wjR1rvd5tA
— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 3, 2022
The issue of abortion is one of the fundamental causes where the US Right and Left are divided. While the US right condemns abortions referring to its biblical consideration as a sin, the left champions it under the parlance of Human rights. Several protestors started carrying out silent agitations in Washington DC when the news of the draft was revealed. Posters with “My Body, My Choice”, “You are Pro-Life until the Baby is” have been appearing across the US against the Republican-led draft in the Supreme Court.
A person called Amit Jain clerks for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) May 3, 2022
As a Yale student, Jain blasted Yale for supporting Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination.
Jain was quoted in a 2017 Politico piece by Josh Gerstein.
Today, Gerstein published the draft SCOTUS opinion on Roe.
As per speculations, many members of the US right-wing have held Indian-origin Amit Jain who serves as a clerk for Justice Sonia Sotomayor, responsible for the leak. The US top court will be holding a series of sessions over the next two months to give rulings in its unresolved cases, which include the Mississippi abortion case.
