On Monday night, as we were busy indulging in the sparkly dispatches from the first Monday in May (aka the 2022 Met Gala), a draft opinion of a Supreme Court ruling written by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. was leaked and published by Politico. In the draft, the majority of the Court (five of the nine justices) argues to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, two landmark cases that ensured safe and legal abortion access throughout all 50 states. And although the opinion is just a draft for now, if passed (reportedly later this summer), it would end federal protections for abortion rights and reproductive justice, effectively leaving the issue up to each individual state. Thirteen states have already passed "trigger laws" that would immediately outlaw abortion if Roe is overturned.
Yes, this is a big f*cking deal.
"Roe was egregiously wrong from the start," the draft reads. "Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division. It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives."
This news is undoubtedly difficult to process. Knowing the highest court in the land seeks to overturn the human right to bodily autonomy feels like a betrayal—albeit an unsurprising one, given the current makeup of the Supreme Court and the increasingly restrictive abortion laws that states across the country have passed in recent years. For many Americans, the abortion crisis is already here.
 On Monday night, as we were busy indulging in the sparkly dispatches from the first Monday in May (aka the 2022 Met Gala), a draft opinion of a Supreme Court ruling written by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. was leaked and published by Politico. In the draft, the majority of the Court (five of the nine justices) argues to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, two landmark cases that ensured safe and legal abortion access throughout all 50 states. And although the opinion is just a draft for now, if passed (reportedly later this summer), it would end federal protections for abortion rights and reproductive justice, effectively leaving the issue up to each individual state. Thirteen states have already passed "trigger laws" that would immediately outlaw abortion if Roe is overturned.
Yes, this is a big f*cking deal.
"Roe was egregiously wrong from the start," the draft reads. "Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division. It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives."
This news is undoubtedly difficult to process. Knowing the highest court in the land seeks to overturn the human right to bodily autonomy feels like a betrayal—albeit an unsurprising one, given the current makeup of the Supreme Court and the increasingly restrictive abortion laws that states across the country have passed in recent years. For many Americans, the abortion crisis is already here. |
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