Abortion rights in the US could become severely curtailed, a Supreme Court document leaked to Politico has revealed, sending shockwaves around the country.
According to a draft decision published in full by Politico on Monday evening, the highest legal authority in the US has voted to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion.
The 1973 ruling provided women with the absolute right to a termination in the first trimester of pregnancy and limited rights in the second. A 1992 ruling – Planned Parenthood v. Casey – upheld the judgement.
Now a majority of the Supreme Court appears to be leaning towards overturning both decisions and handing back “the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a draft majority opinion.