The Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision on Friday overturned the landmark ruling that established the right to abortion in the U.S.
The court's controversial but expected ruling gives individual states the power to set their own abortion laws without concern of running afoul of Roe, which had allowed abortions during the first two trimesters of pregnancies.
A majority of the states are expected to outlaw or severely restrict abortion as a result of the Supreme Court's decision.
Some states plan to keep their liberal abortion rules.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion in the case in which the Supreme Court upheld the right to abortion. He was joined by five other conservatives on the high court.
The Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. was the site of protests after the court's three liberal justices filed a dissent to the ruling.
Alito said that the two people must be overruled.
Alito wrote that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is the only constitutional provision that protects abortion rights.
The provision guarantees some rights that are not mentioned in the Constitution, but any such right must be deeply ingrained in this Nation's history and tradition.
Alito said that it was time to return the issue of abortion to the people.
The court's liberal justices blasted the majority for saying that a woman has no rights to speak after fertilization.
The dissent said that a state can force a pregnant woman to have a baby.
Whenever rational, the lowest level of scrutiny known to the law is permissible, the majority believes. States will be free to impose all manner of restrictions because the Court has said that protecting fetal life is rational.
Pro life protestors march in front of the Supreme Court building amid the ruling that could overturn Roe v. Wade on June 13, 2022 in Washington, DC.A Mississippi law that banned nearly all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy is related to the case that led to the demise of the abortion law known as "Rie's demise".
The most important and controversial dispute of the court's term was that of Dobbs. It was the most serious threat to the right to abortion since the Supreme Court upheld the right to abortion.
During a time of intense political tribalism, Dobbs deepened partisan divides.
The leak of a draft of the majority opinion, which completely overturned the decision to abortion, sent shock waves across the country and galvanized both sides of the debate. The nation's highest court immediately began an investigation to find the source of the leak.
The publication of the court's draft opinion, written by Alito, sparked protests from abortion-rights supporters who were angry about how the decision will impact both patients and providers.
The leaked opinion was a major victory for conservatives and anti- abortion advocates who had worked for decades to undermine the law.
Republicans in Washington focused more on the leak than on what it revealed. The protesters outside the homes of some conservative justices were accused of trying to intimidate the court.
The leak of Alito's draft opinion blew a hole in the court's secret. Many of the court's critics were already concerned about the politicization of the country's most powerful deliberative body, where justices are appointed for life
Roberts said that the work of the court would not be affected by the leak and that it was intended to undermine the integrity of the operations.
The leak had made a difference. The Attorney General ordered the U.S. marshals service to help ensure the justices' safety after tall fencing was set up around the court building.
Alito spoke from the court building to a crowd at a forum at the Antonin Scalia Law School rather than going to the school. According to The Washington Post, when asked how he and the other justices are holding up, Alito replied, "This is a subject I told myself I wasn't going to talk about today."
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