Supreme Court Overturns Roe, Transforming Abortion-Rights Fight

  • High court upholds Mississippi’s 15-week ban on procedure
  • Court votes 5-4 to overturn Roe, with Roberts stopping short
Supreme Court Overturns 1973 Roe v. Wade decision
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

The US Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and wiped out the constitutional right to abortion, issuing a historic ruling likely to render the procedure largely illegal in half the country and further polarize a deeply divided nation.

The court voted along ideological lines. All six Republican-appointed justices voted to uphold Mississippi’s ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and five said they would go further and overturn Roe and the constitutional right it established. Chief Justice John Roberts said he would have stopped short of toppling Roe completely.