The United States Supreme Court is reportedly regarding to overturn a nearly 50-year-old judgment that guarantees the right to abortion, a reversal that would be major for women’s rights.
The draft of a judgment obtained by the media POLITICO shows that a majority of justices sitting on the Supreme Court will vote in favor of reversing the “Roe Vs Wade” decision.
Made in 1973, the latter guaranteed the right of women everywhere in the United States to have an abortion.
The new judgment titled “Opinion of the Court” and written by conservative judge Samuel Alito mentions that Roe Vs Wade “was flagrantly wrong all along”.
“It is time to respect the Constitution and to return the question of abortion to the elected representatives of the people”, one can read there.
Not a final decision
However, this document is not an end in itself, since the judges can still change their position before its official publication. This is scheduled for the next two months.
“Let’s be clear: this is a preliminary draft. It is outrageous, unprecedented, but not final: abortion remains your right and is still legal,” the organization Planned Parenthood, which runs many abortion clinics, posted on Twitter.
More conservative judges
A spokesperson for the Supreme Court declined to comment on the draft ruling, according to POLITICO.
Its publication constitutes an extremely rare leak for the Supreme Court, where the secrecy of the deliberations has almost never been violated.
The decision obtained by the media settles the cause of a Mississippi law passed in 2021. It prohibits abortion following 15 weeks of pregnancy, which challenges the rights guaranteed in the Roe Vs Wade judgment.
“Pro-choice” women’s rights activists have for some years feared that the use of abortion is being challenged in the United States.
Indeed, a majority of conservative justices, six out of nine, have served on the Supreme Court since President Donald Trump’s tenure.
The latter had been exceptionally able to appoint three judges aligned ideologically with the American right. Since September, this new Court has sent several favorable signals to opponents of abortion.
-With AFP
