In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Norma McCorvey, AKA Jane Roe, in the case Roe v. Wade. This ruling protected a woman's right to abortion under the Constitution. However, on June 24th, 2022, this ruling was overturned. This decision sparked general outrage all over the country, and many protested or shared their indignation elsewhere. Still, many are unaware of what this truly means.
The most important thing to address is the fact that this does not make abortion illegal everywhere. Overturning Roe v. Wade simply gives individual states the power to decide whether abortion is legal or not while allowing them to set up certain guidelines concerning this procedure. Many liberal states will keep abortion legal, while many conservative states have already started banning abortion or setting up strict guidelines. This will most likely cause women who want an abortion but live in conservative states to travel to liberal states to receive one.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Photo Credit: Fox News
While it has been established that abortion will not be made completely illegal in the United States, many are concerned about other cases that may be revisited after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote "In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell". This only caused more outrage, as the cases Thomas mentioned pertain to the use of contraceptives, same-sex intimacy, and same-sex marriage.
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