Supreme court overturns Roe v. Wade

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, a landmark 1973 court ruling that established abortion as a constitutional right, that revokes the right from women and shifts authority over the procedure to the states.

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” the majority opinion said.

States across the country will now have the legal authority to ban abortion outright for the first time in 50 years. Thirteen states are already positioned to do so with “trigger laws” in place that will activate with the end of Roe. They are: Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wyoming. Additional states are preparing to do the same or to pass restrictions that will strictly limit access to abortion.

The decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization marks the culmination of a decades-long legal and political battle waged by abortion opponents to whittle away at Roe and ultimately defeat it. Advocates of Roe say the new decision goes against the will of the American public, a majority of which opposes a full repeal of the ruling, and leaves them with little recourse to protect reproductive rights for millions of women in many politically conservative states across the country.

Still, states that remain supportive of abortion, including California and New York, are working on safe-haven laws that will expand the right and protect women traveling from out of state in search of the procedure.

The Dobbs decision could also upend a legal framework establishing a right to privacy that undergirds decades of jurisprudence, including court rulings that enshrined rights to contraception, sexual intimacy and marriage. And it is certain to play a major role in not just this year’s midterm elections, but in state and federal races for years to come, where candidates will have to debate and campaign on a new set of rules governing the procedure.

Justice Samuel Alito, appointed to the court by President George W. Bush, wrote the majority opinion, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by President George H. W. Bush, as well as Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, all appointed by President Donald Trump.

A leaked draft of Alito’s opinion, published by Politico in May, previewed the end of Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 precedent that upheld it. The leak prompted a national uproar and deep distrust at the court in the final weeks of its term. A recent assassination attempt against Kavanaugh by an opponent of the draft decision prompted federal law enforcement to provide each justice with round-the-clock security.

The final decision was revealed through a posting online — an unusual turn for a court that traditionally sees its draft opinions and dissents read aloud from the court bench. The court cited coronavirus pandemic protocols for the change.

Marcus Smith, chair of the Curry County Republican Party said, “If there’s anything we’ve learned since COVID, it’s the state in which you live in has a lot of power and authority over the lives of its citizens.”

Smith said when it comes to abortion, states still have the abilities to make laws.”

“And I feel it would be in the best interest of the citizens of this county and this state to see how this decision is going to affect the abortion laws in this state,” Smith said.

“It’s a sad time for our country, we’ve taken about six steps backwards,” chair of the Democratic Party of Roosevelt County Tate Turnbough said in regard to Friday’s Supreme Court decision.

Turnbough the right to have a safe and “rare” abortion has been taken away from thousands of women. He believes the Supreme Court decision has put their lives in even more dangerous and unknown territory.

“The effects of this decision will last for decades to come,” Turnbough said.

Turnbough stated the majority of U. S. citizens agree on the right to have an abortion.

He believes the Republican Party is instrumental in the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

“The Republican party claims to champion freedom and rights of Americans. Seems to me all they’re doing is taking away freedoms and rights,” Turnbough said. “They’re becoming the party of suppression and control.”

Turnbough believes the Supreme Court was not paying attention to the will of the people in the ruling.

“The United States is going to have to have a good hard look in the mirror and decide who we are,” Turnbough said.

The Eastern New Mexico News contributed to this report.