Roe v. Wade

***Roe v. Wade*** was a 1973 landmark decision by the US Supreme Court that ruled that a state law that banned abortion was unconstitutional. The decision said that a woman's right to  extended to the fetus that she was carrying. The court viewed that during the first three months (trimester) an abortion was no more dangerous than carrying the fetus to full term. The 7-2 decision was supported by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and six other Justices and was opposed by Justices William Rehnquist and Byron White. 

The decision divided the United States into pro-life and pro-choice camps and is still controversial. Pro-life supporters argue that the unborn baby has the same right to life as other people and that the government should intervene to protect it. Pro-choice supporters believe that the unborn baby is not the same as a person, that the woman has the right to choose what she wants to do with her body and that the government should not intervene.

*Roe v. Wade* was limited by a later decision, *Webster v. Reproductive Health Services* (1989), which allowed the regulation of abortion in some cases. Several states have considered laws banning abortions altogether.

In May 2022, a draft of the Supreme Court's decision to overrule *Roe v. Wade* was leaked to the media.

## Background 
The case began in 1970 in Texas as a challenge against a law banning any kind of abortion unless the mother's life was in danger. A pregnant Texas woman, Norma McCorvey (alias Jane Roe), brought a lawsuit against Henry Wade, Dallas County District Attorney, in a Texas federal court. She could not get a legal abortion in Texas because her life was not in danger. She wanted it to be done safely by a doctor but said that she could not afford to travel outside Texas. Her lawsuit claimed that the Texas law violated her right to privacy, which was protected by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

## Majority opinion 
In a 7-2 decision, the court held that a woman's right to an abortion was protected by her right to privacy under the Fourteenth Amendment.

## Dissenting opinion 
The dissenting opinion was written by Justice William Rehnquist, who disagreed with the majority decision for several reasons. 
* He pointed out that there was no legitimate plaintiff in the case, which was a requirement to hear the case. A legitimate plaintiff would have been a woman in the first trimester of her pregnancy at some point while the case was being tried. McCorvey (Jane Roe) did not fit that qualification and so the ruling had no application to the case. In that landmark case, the Supreme Court ruled that a Connecticut law against the use of contraceptives violated the right to privacy, as found in the Constitution. The Supreme Court decided that the right to privacy is  by several amendments. In 1923, the court interpreted the "liberty"  in the Fourteenth Amendment as a broad right to privacy. Justice William O. Douglas stated the guarantees of the right to privacy had penumbras (implied rights) "formed by emanations (a ) from those guarantees that help give them life and substance."

## Trimester concept 
In its decision, the court used the three-trimester framework of pregnancy.

## Overruling
The case, Docket Number 19-1392,Dobbs, *State Health Officer of the Mississippi Department of Health, et al. v. Jackson Women’s Health Organizatione et al.* started being argued on December 1, 2021.
 
On May 2, 2022, *Politico* was given a leaked initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito suggesting that the Supreme Court is and will overturn *Roe* and *Casey* in a pending final decision on ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization*. The leak also renewed calls on the US Senate to pass legislation already passed by the House of Representatives to codify the rights created by *Roe* before the *Dobbs* decision is formally published.

On June 24, 2022, *Roe v. Wade'' was formally struck down by the Supreme Court.

Concurring with the opinion were 
*Justice Thomas
*Justice Gorsuch - There is no direct concurrence or dissent from Justice Gorsuch. Throughout the opinion, he concurs with some of the opinions and dissents with some of the opinions presented by the Court.
*Justice Kavanaugh

*Justice Barrett - Justice Barrett did not file any opinion with the document. She just concurred with what the majority wrote.

Concurring in judgment (in agreement with the outcome of the situation but with different thoughts as to why from the majority).
*Chief Justice Roberts

Dissenting (not in agreement and voting against the majority)
*Justice Kagan
*Justice Sotomayor
*Justice Breyer

This opinion has now given the power to the individual states on what laws they want on abortion.

Justice Alito wrote 

Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, and Breyer stated in their dissenting opinion

During a speech at the White House, given shortly after the opinion was released, US President Joe Biden stated in part:

US Vice President Kamala Harris stated in a pre-scheduled briefing about the future of women's maternity care had to reverse course and she stated in her briefing:

## References 
## Other websites 
* Roe at 40 – The Controversy Continues 
* Before and after Roe v. Wade, CNN
* Right to Privacy: Constitutional Rights & Privacy Laws