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Post by Webster on Jun 24, 2022 10:26:49 GMT -5
 ...the Supreme Court has officially overturned Roe v. Wade...
Previous Roe v. Wade draft opinion leak thread here...(The Guardian) Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case in which the supreme court could overturn abortion rights, is not the only one in which the justices could make a ruling that touches on a contentious issue in American society. There’s also Kennedy v Bremerton School District, which deals with a football coach’s practice of praying after games and could end up expanding the types of religious activities allowed at public schools. A ruling in that direction would come just days after the court opened the door to religious schools receiving public funds in a decision that liberal justice Sonia Sotomayor warned weakened the separation between church and state. Then there’s West Virginia v EPA. The justices are considering a plan announced by former president Barack Obama to lower power plants’ emissions — but which never took effect. The fear is that the conservative majority will use the case as an opportunity to take away major regulatory powers from the government. Finally, there’s a case that doesn’t affect Americans but rather people on its borders. Biden v. Texas represents the sitting president’s attempt to end the “remain in Mexico” policy implemented by his predecessor Donald Trump, which forced many asylum seekers to stay south of the border while their cases were heard. The supreme court could today release their opinions on all of these, or none, or some combination in between. |
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Post by Webster on Jun 24, 2022 10:29:29 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Supreme court overturns Roe v WadeThe supreme court has overturned Roe v Wade, ending nearly a half-century of abortion rights in the United States. The decision split along ideological lines, with the six conservative justices voting for it and the three liberals dissenting.
With the supreme court’s ruling overturning Roe v Wade, conservatives have struck a major blow against abortion access in the United States. The Guardian’s Jessica Glenza breaks down what it means: The supreme court has ruled there is no constitutional right to abortion in the United States, upending a precedent set nearly 50 years ago in the landmark Roe v Wade case – a rare reversal of long-settled law that will fracture the foundations of modern reproductive rights in America.
The court’s ruling came in the pivotal case Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which the last abortion clinic in Mississippi opposed the state’s efforts to ban abortion after 15 weeks and overturn Roe in the process.
The reversal of the 1973 opinion will again allow individual US states to ban abortion. At least 26 states are expected to do so immediately or as soon as practicable.-rEAD MORE: www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/24/roe-v-wade-overturned-abortion-summary-supreme-court
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Post by Webster on Jun 24, 2022 10:31:12 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Jun 24, 2022 10:31:34 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Jun 24, 2022 10:32:43 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Conservative groups are cheering the supreme court’s decision overturning Roe v Wade as the successful culmination of decades of work to restrict abortion access. Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, put it: For nearly fifty years, the Supreme Court has imposed an unpopular and extreme abortion policy on our nation, but as the annual March for Life gives witness to, Roe’s allowance of abortion-on-demand, up-until-birth has never represented where most Americans stand on life! Today, the ability to determine whether and when to limit abortion was returned to the American people who have every right to enact laws like Mississippi’s which protect mothers and unborn babies after 15 weeks - when they have fully formed noses, can suck their thumb, and feel pain.President and CEO Brooke Rollins of the America First Policy Institute noted the role of Donald Trump, who appointed three of the conservative justices whose votes were crucial in the ruling: It should also be noted that this historic day for democracy, nearly 50 years in the making, would not have been possible without the leadership and commitment to life of President Donald J. Trump. Thank you, Mr. President!
Another key player in laying the groundwork for Roe to fall was Mitch McConnell, who as top Senate Republican in 2016 stopped then-president Barack Obama from installing a justice of his choosing for a vacant seat on the supreme court. Trump ended up filling that opening with Neil Gorsuch, who voted to strike down Roe.Here’s what McConnell had to say about the ruling: The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Dobbs is courageous and correct. This is an historic victory for the Constitution and for the most vulnerable in our society.
For 50 years, states have been unable to enact even modest protections for unborn children. More than 90% of Europe restricts abortion on demand after 15 weeks, but every state in America has been forced to allow it more than a month past that, after a baby can feel pain, yawn, stretch, and suck his or her thumb. Judicial activists declared that every state had to handle abortion like China and North Korea and no state could handle it like France or Germany.
Not anymore. Now the American people get their voice back.
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Post by Webster on Jun 24, 2022 10:33:04 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Jun 24, 2022 10:33:57 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Just how big of a deal is the supreme court’s ruling? To Lawrence Gostin, faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law, its decision to strike down the 49-year old Roe ruling is “the single greatest reversal of women’s rights in American history”. From his statement: This Court’s blatant disregard for settled precedent, along with the previously leaked draft opinion, undermines the Court’s legitimacy and America’s trust in the federal judiciary. But even more troubling are the impacts on women who live in states banning or restricting abortion access. We are going to see ‘Two Americas,’ one that protects women’s health and rights and one where women will have few, if any, reproductive rights. The Supreme Court’s decision will widen racial and health disparities across America. The Supreme Court has made the United States an outlier among peer countries that safeguard the right to abortion.Tarah Demant, interim national director for programs, advocacy and government affairs at Amnesty International USA, said the ruling marked a “grim milestone” in US history: People will be forced to give birth. They’ll be forced to seek unsafe abortions. This is the outcome of a decades-long campaign to control the bodies of women, girls, and people who can become pregnant. And it paves the way for unprecedented state legislation to criminalize abortion, as well as other bills that will aim to strip human rights from people in the United States, including the potential for bills that will affect access to birth control, gender, and marriage equality as well as other anti-discrimination laws... Regardless of what the Supreme Court says, abortion remains a human right and states all over the world are still obligated to uphold that right.
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Post by Webster on Jun 24, 2022 15:13:57 GMT -5
 Abortion rights activists react outside the supreme court in Washington on Friday, June 24, 2022. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP |
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Post by Webster on Jun 24, 2022 15:29:52 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Exactly how did the supreme court justices vote in their decision ending the nationwide right to abortion? While the ruling represents the successful conclusion of the anti-abortion movement’s quest to overturn Roe v Wade, the exact breakdown of the vote elaborates on some of the differences among the court’s conservative justices. At issue in the case, Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, was a Mississippi law that banned abortion after 15 weeks gestation. The justices ruled both on that law’s validity, and the Roe v Wade precedent. SCOTUSblog has a breakdown looking at how they each voted: The vote to overturn Roe was 5-4, with Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett joining Alito’s opinion. Chief Justice John Roberts filed a separate opinion, agreeing with the court’s decision to uphold the Mississippi law but arguing that the court should not have decided the broader question of whether the Constitution protects abortion at all. The court’s three liberals, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, filed a joint dissent.
Protestors gathered on the steps of the supreme court after the ruling today. “I don’t care what that vote is today. They cannot stop us. They cannot control our lives. We’re going to do everything that we can possibly do, we’re going to continue to organize,” said Representative Maxine Waters, a Democrat representing California’s 43rd district. “We’re going to turn out a huge vote of women. We’re going to see if we can get something on the ballot real soon. We’re going to do everything we can possibly do.”
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Post by Webster on Jun 24, 2022 15:30:39 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Justice department condemns supreme court abortion decisionAttorney general Merrick Garland has denounced the supreme court ruling overturning abortion rights, warning it will harm people nationwide, particularly the poor and racial minorities. From his statement: The Supreme Court has eliminated an established right that has been an essential component of women’s liberty for half a century – a right that has safeguarded women’s ability to participate fully and equally in society. And in renouncing this fundamental right, which it had repeatedly recognized and reaffirmed, the Court has upended the doctrine of stare decisis, a key pillar of the rule of law.
The Justice Department strongly disagrees with the Court’s decision. This decision deals a devastating blow to reproductive freedom in the United States. It will have an immediate and irreversible impact on the lives of people across the country. And it will be greatly disproportionate in its effect – with the greatest burdens felt by people of color and those of limited financial means.Garland said the department would work to keep abortion accessible, and in particular counter efforts to restrict access to abortion drug mifepristone: The Department strongly supports efforts by Congress to codify Americans’ reproductive rights, which it retains the authority to do. We also support other legislative efforts to ensure access to comprehensive reproductive services. And we stand ready to work with other arms of the federal government that seek to use their lawful authorities to protect and preserve access to reproductive care. In particular, the FDA has approved the use of the medication Mifepristone. States may not ban Mifepristone based on disagreement with the FDA’s expert judgment about its safety and efficacy.
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Post by Webster on Jun 24, 2022 15:33:13 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Republican senator Susan Collins supported justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh during the confirmation hearings and repeatedly reassured the public that they would not vote to overturn Roe v Wade. But both men joined in today’s opinion doing just that, and now the Maine lawmaker says she was duped. “This decision is inconsistent with what Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh said in their testimony and their meetings with me, where they both were insistent on the importance of supporting long-standing precedents that the country has relied upon,” Collins said. She elaborated further on her thoughts regarding the decision: The Supreme Court has abandoned a fifty-year precedent at a time that the country is desperate for stability. This ill-considered action will further divide the country at a moment when, more than ever in modern times, we need the Court to show both consistency and restraint. Throwing out a precedent overnight that the country has relied upon for half a century is not conservative. It is a sudden and radical jolt to the country that will lead to political chaos, anger, and a further loss of confidence in our government.Collins noted she supported legislation that would codify the rights previously established by Roe v Wade into law, though its unclear if such legislation would win enough support from her Republican colleagues to make it through the senate. “Our goal with this legislation is to do what the Court should have done — provide the consistency in our abortion laws that Americans have relied upon for 50 years,” Collins said.
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Post by Webster on Jun 24, 2022 15:34:06 GMT -5
(The Guardian) States nationwide are continuing to act in the wake of the supreme court’s Dobbs decision, with Republican governors and officials moving to restrict abortion access. “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad. Today, along with millions across Louisiana and America, I rejoice with my departed Mom and the unborn children with her in Heaven!”, Louisiana attorney general Jeff Landry said in a statement where he announced a law banning abortion in the state was now in effect. South Dakota has a similar such “trigger law” banning the procedure, but governor Kristi Noem and the leaders of the state legislature also announced a special session “to save lives and help mothers impacted by the decision”. “We must do what we can to help mothers in crisis know that there are options and resources available for them. Together, we will ensure that abortion is not only illegal in South Dakota – it is unthinkable,” Noem said. The second-in-command of the state senate Lee Schoenbeck elaborated on the reasons for calling the legislature back into session: “A special session is necessary because we could not have known this winter in session that we would have this opportunity and new responsibility to protect lives presented by the Supreme Court’s decision. Also, there will be more work to do on the many challenges a post-Roe world presents in regular session next January”. In Illinois, Democratic governor JB Pritzker announced a special legislative session to make the state a haven for abortion access in a region where many of its neighbors will do the opposite.
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Post by Webster on Jun 24, 2022 16:09:30 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Medical experts have also decried the Dobbs opinion as threatening the health and autonomy of patients nationwide. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released a statement condemning the supreme court opinion from its president, Iffath A Hoskins, MD, FACOG, reading in part: Today’s decision is a direct blow to bodily autonomy, reproductive health, patient safety and health equity in the United States.
Reversing the constitutional protection for safe, legal abortion established by the Supreme Court nearly fifty years ago exposes pregnant people to arbitrary, state-based restrictions, regulations, and bans that will leave many people unable to access needed medical care.
The restrictions put forth are not based on science nor medicine; they allow unrelated third parties to make decisions that rightfully and ethically should be made only by individuals and their physicians.
ACOG condemns this devastating decision, which will allow state governments to prevent women from living with autonomy over their bodies and their decisions.The American Medical Association also released a statement denouncing the Dobbs opinion, with its president Jack Resneck Jr MD, writing: The American Medical Association is deeply disturbed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn nearly a half century of precedent protecting patients’ right to critical reproductive health care—representing an egregious allowance of government intrusion into the medical examination room, a direct attack on the practice of medicine and the patient-physician relationship, and a brazen violation of patients’ rights to evidence-based reproductive health services.
States that end legal abortion will not end abortion —they will end safe abortion, risking [devastating] consequences, including patients’ lives.
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Post by Webster on Jun 24, 2022 16:17:10 GMT -5
(The Guardian) The largest association of African American physicians in the United States has warned that the supreme court’s decision to overturn abortion rights will harm racial minorities, particularly Black women. In a statement, president of the National Medical Association Rachel Villanueva said: This decision is unconstitutional, dangerous and discriminatory. It will not stop abortions from being performed, it will unfortunately only make the procedure more dangerous. Women of color, poor women and other disadvantaged individuals who don’t have the resources to travel to obtain the medical care they need will be disproportionately impacted. At a time when maternal mortality rates are worsening, particularly for Black women, it is deeply disappointing that our institutions are actively harming — not helping — women’s health. Abortion is part of total health care for a woman. Doctors should be able to provide medical care based on scientific fact and evidence-based medicine, and free from any political interference. The entire medical community should be gravely concerned about the precedent this decision sets.According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from 2019, the most recent year available, Black women have the highest rates of abortion with 23.8 per 1,000 people. Hispanic women had 11.7 abortions per 1,000 people, while for white women, the ratio was 6.6.
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Post by Webster on Jun 24, 2022 16:21:58 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Kevin McCarthy, leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives, has cheered the supreme court’s ruling, calling it “the most important pro-life ruling in American history”. -- The people have won a victory. The right to life has been vindicated. The voiceless will finally have a voice. This great nation can now live up to its core principle that all are created equal. Not born equal. Created equal.Republicans are viewed as favorites to take control of the House following this year’s midterm elections, and McCarthy would be a top contender for the job of speaker. In his speech, he alluded to what his priorities might be, should the GOP ascend to the majority. -- As encouraging as today’s decision is, our work is far from done. America remains one of only seven countries on earth that allows elective abortions in the third trimester, including China and North Korea. This is radical – but House Democrats continue to support it against the wishes of the American people. This Congress, every House Democrat has voted for extreme policies like taxpayer-funded abortion, on demand, until the point of birth. But Democrats’ radical agenda does not have Americans’ support.
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