On June 24th, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States of America struck down Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), two previous decisions that declared that a woman’s right to abortion is implicit in the American constitution.
The court declared:
The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.
What this means
For almost 50 Years, since the Roe v. Wade ruling, women have been able to claim that they have a right to end the life of their unborn child, because the Supreme Court has said so. They no longer can claim that right.
Prior to 1973, the legislatures of the individual states of the United States made the laws regarding abortion. In some states abortion was legal, with no restrictions. In other states it was banned. In some it was legal but with restrictions. The ruling on Roe and Casey invalidated all state legislation on abortion. Regulation of abortion now returns to the individual states, to be decided by the elected representatives of the people of the state — rather than by nine appointed judges, who are not responsible to the people.
