ABORTION DECISION: The ruling, the reaction, the future
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for abortion. The 6-3 ruling puts the issue back in the hands of states for the first time in nearly 50 years.
The court’s conservative majority overturned the 1973 case of Roe v. Wade and 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The outcome is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.
Needless to say, stories surrounding the decision have come fast and furious in the hours after the ruling. Here are some of those stories. To read more on each story, click on the link in the headline.
Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade; states can ban abortion
The Supreme Court has ended the nation’s constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in a decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. Friday’s outcome is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.
Hundreds in Pittsburgh protest abortion ruling
Chants of “My body, my choice,” “Stand up, fight back,” “Vote” and “Free, safe and legal” rang out through Downtown Pittsburgh Friday evening as several hundred people took to the streets to protest the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Those in attendance at the Pittsburgh demonstration, which began at the City-County Building, spanned several generations and included all races and sexes.
Pittsburgh councilman to introduce legislation that would protect abortion access in city
Legislation expected to be introduced to Pittsburgh City Council next week aims to preserve abortion access in the city if Pennsylvania bans abortions.
Councilman Bobby Wilson, a Democrat from Spring Hill, sponsored three separate bills hours after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Supreme Court abortion decision places higher stakes on Pa. election, experts say
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade places even higher stakes on Pennsylvania’s November election, particularly the race for governor, observers say.
Alison Dagnes, a political science professor at Shippensburg University, said the right of women to choose to have an abortion in Pennsylvania “quite literally hangs in the balance this election.”
Dagnes said a shift in the balance of political power could result in abortion being banned or protected in Pennsylvania, where Republicans now control both chambers of the Legislature but the governor is a Democrat.
What GOP-named justices had said about Roe to Senate panel
The nine justices of the Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling Friday, made clear their views on abortion, with the conservative majority overturning the Roe v. Wade decision from 1973 and stripping away women’s constitutional protections for abortion.
Every high court nominee, in one form or another, was asked during Senate hearings about his or her views of Roe. Here’s a look at how the Republican-nominated justices responded over the years when questioned by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee before joining the court.
Abortion decision will lead some to question Supreme Court legitimacy, experts say
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the 50-year precedent that was Roe v. Wade and roll back abortion rights in this country could cause many Americans to question the court’s legitimacy, legal experts and constitutional scholars said Friday.
The scholars said nothing has changed in American jurisprudence to lead to the reversal of Roe other than the makeup of the court.
“To have faith in a court, you have to believe the court is acting on principle and basing its decisions on ones that have come before,” said Sara Rose, the deputy legal director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “Nothing has changed with respect to society or people’s opinion on abortion — other than the composition of the court.”
The decision, which will likely lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states, was greeted with mixed reactions from local grassroots activists who have been fighting for the right to choose and from religious leaders who see themselves as protectors of life.
“As bishop, I will not remain silent,” said Bishop Larry Kulick of the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg. “Silence is a fast track to a continuation of policies against human dignity and an implicit acceptance of the evil of abortion.”
That sentiment held true at the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, where Bishop David Zubik celebrated the ruling.
“Those of us who have worked and prayed to protect unborn children are profoundly grateful that the Supreme Court of the United States has determined that there is not a constitutional right for abortion,” Zubik said.
The diocese, he said, will “continue to support and encourage legislation that protects unborn children.”
Dick’s Sporting Goods to reimburse travel expenses for employees seeking abortions
In the wake of Friday’s decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending the nation’s constitutional protections for abortion and leaving the decision up to each state, the Pittsburgh-based Dick’s Sporting Goods national chain of stores announced support for its employees seeking abortions.
In response to the anti-abortion ruling, Dick’s Sporting Goods president and CEO Lauren Hobart said on her LinkedIn page that Dick’s will provide up to $4,000 in travel expense reimbursement for its employees seeking abortions to travel to the nearest location where that medical care is legally available.
“At Dick’s, our teammates (employees) are the heart of our business, and we are committed to protecting their health and well-being,” said Hobart.
A look at 50 years of Supreme Court abortion decisions
From 1973 to the present, here’s a look at some of the Supreme Court’s major abortion rulings over the last 50 years. During that time, the court’s membership and views on abortion regulations have changed.
Biden vows abortion fight, assails ‘extreme’ court ruling
President Joe Biden said Friday he would try to preserve access to abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and he called on Americans to elect more Democrats who would safeguard rights upended by the court’s decision. “This is not over,” he declared.
“Let’s be very clear, the health and life of women across this nation are now at risk,” he said from the White House on what he called “a sad day for the court and the country.”
How U.S. states have banned, limited or protected abortion
The decision also sets up the potential for legal fights between the states over whether providers and those who help women obtain abortions can be sued or prosecuted. Here is an overview of abortion legislation and the expected impact of the court’s decision in every state.
After Roe, Dems seek probe of tech’s use of personal data
With the Supreme Court ending the constitutional protections for abortion, four Democratic lawmakers are asking federal regulators to investigate Apple and Google for allegedly deceiving millions of mobile phone users by enabling the collection and sale of their personal data to third parties.
Privacy experts say that could make women vulnerable because their personal data could be used to surveil pregnancies and shared with police or sold to vigilantes. Online searches, period apps, fitness trackers and advice helplines could become rich data sources for such surveillance efforts.
Idaho will ban most abortions after U.S. Supreme Court ruling
The overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court with a 6-3 vote on Friday triggers a 2020 Idaho law banning all abortions except in cases of reported rape or incest, or to protect the mother’s life.
That law takes effect 30 days after the court’s decision, negating the state’s current law allowing most abortions up to viability at about 24 weeks.
Wisconsin doctors halt abortions following court ruling
Doctors across Wisconsin immediately stopped providing abortions on Friday, turning away women in waiting rooms and calling to cancel pending appointments following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling striking down its Roe v. Wade decision.
The immediate halt to abortions came even as questions remained about the enforceability of a 173-year-old state ban.
U.S. abortion ruling sparks global debate, polarizes activists
The end of constitutional protections for abortions in the United States on Friday emboldened abortion opponents around the world, while advocates for abortion rights worried it could threaten recent moves toward legalization in their countries.
With Roe over, some fear rollback of LGBTQ and other rights
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision allowing states to ban abortion stirred alarm Friday among LGBTQ advocates, who feared that the ruling could someday allow a rollback of legal protections for gay relationships, including the right for same-sex couples to marry.
In the court’s majority opinion overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, Justice Samuel Alito said the decision applied only to abortion. But critics of the court’s conservative majority gave the statement no credence.
“I don’t buy that at all,” said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of medicine at Georgetown University and faculty director of its Institute for National and Global Health Law.
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