Reaction was swift across the U.S. Friday as the U.S. Supreme Court erased almost 50 years of abortion law.
Here is look at reports from states as reported by independent newsrooms affiliated with States Newsroom:
Abortion rights supporters protest outside the state capitol building in Denver, CO in the wake of a leaked Supreme Court opinion that indicates justices will overturn Roe v. Wade, May 7, 2022. (Photo by Kevin Mohatt for Colorado Newsline)
COLORADO:
Colorado abortion rights advocates face new, post-Roe reality
In a landmark opinion handed down Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court brought an end to the nearly 50-year period in American history when the right to have an abortion was secured by the nation’s highest court.
Now, in some states, seeking an abortion could make someone a criminal — and advocates warn that the burden will fall disproportionately on pregnant people of color, who are more likely than white people to be arrested and detained.
“A lot of people of color … will only be targets now that they will seek abortion care,” said Aurea Bolaños Perea, spokesperson for the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, or COLOR. “Our bodies will be criminalized for seeking abortion.”
A leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion overturning Roe v. Wade triggered a large protest to protect abortion rights outside the Georgia State Capitol on May 14. (Photo by Ross Williams / Georgia Recorder)
GEORGIA:
Georgia officials, groups mobilize for abortion rights fight
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Friday decision to overturn Roe v. Wade quickly reverberated throughout Georgia and beyond as the reaction ranged from outrage and frustration among abortion rights supporters to jubilation from anti-abortion activists.
With the landmark ruling throwing out a constitutional right to an abortion, regulating access to the procedure will now be left up to each state.
Abortion rights advocates said the ruling is a devastating setback that limits women’s ability to make private medical decisions and determine what is best for them and their families.
IDAHO:
Idaho’s trigger law will abolish abortions 30 days after SCOTUS ruling overturning Roe v. Wade
In a 6-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has voted to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that determined a person’s constitutional right to seek an abortion, a move that will make abortion illegal in nearly all cases in 13 states, including Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.
The decision follows a report in early May in Politico signaling the court was poised to reverse the ruling through a leaked draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. In addition to Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court also overturned Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a 1992 case about restrictions placed on abortion access.
“The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives,” the justices in the majority wrote.
Protestors march toward City Hall in New Orleans to protest the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling June 14, 2022, that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. (Photo by Piper Hutchinson / Louisiana Illuinator)
LOUISIANA:
Louisiana bans abortion after Supreme Court ruling
Louisiana automatically banned almost all abortion in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its landmark Roe v. Wade decision Friday morning. The state’s three abortion clinics – in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport – stopped administering abortions within hours of the court’s decision.
“We are suspending performing abortions as we decide our next step with our legal team,” said Kathaleen Pittman, who manages Hope Medical Group for Women, an abortion clinic in Shreveport. “As you can imagine, we have devastated patients already here today so we are concentrating on them and assisting them with their options.”
MONTANA:
Here’s what the Supreme Court ruling on abortion means for Montana
The United States Supreme Court did what many had expected after Politico obtained a leaked copy of a draft opinion regarding Roe vs. Wade, and overturned the landmark ruling Friday. Here’s what the ruling means for Montana.
In its decision, Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that previous Supreme Court justices had gotten Roe and other abortion cases wrong when it said that there was a right to abortion implied in the constitution, even though the word never appears.
MISSOURI:
Abortion is now illegal in Missouri in wake of U.S. Supreme Court ruling
ST. LOUIS – Shaking her head in disbelief while sitting at Missouri’s last remaining abortion clinic, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush threaded her fingers together and bowed her head as the constitutional right to abortion unraveled.
“Oh my gosh,” Bush said Friday morning, her voice breaking as she was wrapped in a hug. “Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. 49 years. 49 years. I’m sorry. 49 years and they strip it away. 49 years. Thirty-six million people will be affected and it’s, ‘Oh well.’
Hundreds braved the heat in Lansing to protest the Supreme Court’s decision to end nearly 50 years of federal protection for abortion rights. (Photo by Andrew Roth for the Michigan Advance)
MICHIGAN:
Whitmer urges Michigan Supreme Court to consider abortion lawsuit
Following Friday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to deny the constitutional right to abortion, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer filed a motion urging the Michigan Supreme Court to weigh in on whether the state constitution will offer that protection.
“Today, I filed a motion urging the court to immediately take up my lawsuit to protect abortion in Michigan,” Whitmer said in a prepared statement. “We need to clarify that under Michigan law, access to abortion is not only legal, but constitutionally protected. The urgency of the moment is clear—the Michigan court must act now.”
NEBRASKA:
Nebraska lawmakers, governor weigh special session on abortion
Nebraska could be headed toward a special session now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, although it’s unclear what new abortion restrictions, if any, could survive a promised filibuster.
The Legislature this year fell two votes short of passing a “trigger bill,” which would have banned abortion in the state if the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade — as it did Friday.
A filibuster stopped Legislative Bill 933, and legislative leaders say little has changed since then. The late State Sen. Rich Pahls was ill with cancer during the spring debate. He has since been replaced by Republican Kathleen Kauth of Omaha. But that gubernatorial appointment alone is not enough to flip the legislative math toward passage of a total ban, political observers said.
Pro-abortion rights groups and supporters demonstrating in Las Vegas last month following the initial reports that the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn Roe v Wade. (Photo courtesy of Battle Born Progress)
NEVADA:
From ‘Hallelujah’ to ‘Hell, no,’ Nevada reactions to abortion ruling span spectrum
The end of the nearly half-century battle to overturn Roe v. Wade, the case that gave Americans the constitutional right to an abortion, is accelerating the divisive debate – especially among candidates seeking election in November.
Republican gubernatorial candidate and Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo is leaving the door open for Nevada’s long-standing abortion protections, which are codified in law, to be overturned at the polls.
“This morning, the United States Supreme Court rightfully returned the power to the people and their elected state representatives,” Lombardo said in a statement. “As the U.S. Supreme Court decided today and as Nevadans decided long ago, this important issue was and should be decided by Nevada voters, and moving forward, I trust them to make the best decision for our state.”
NEW JERSEY:
Protests and legislative pressure expected as N.J. prepares for fallout of abortion ruling
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that women no longer have a constitutional right to abortion, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called on lawmakers to pass legislation now in the pipeline that would expand abortion access here.
Murphy, speaking at his office in Trenton, singled out one bill that would protect women who come to New Jersey for abortions from states looking to ban or severely restrict the procedure.
Demonstrators hold up signs supporting abortion rights, trying to draw the attention of passing drivers at the corner of Lomas and Fourth Street at an event organized by Planned Parenthood on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. (Photo by Shelby Kleinhans for Source NM)
NEW MEXICO:
New Mexico reacts to Supreme Court decision flanked by states poised to outlaw abortion
The Supreme Court this morning released its decision reversing a landmark abortion rights ruling and ending nearly 50 years of legality throughout the United States.
With the ruling, advocates are shoved further into the fight for reproductive rights, which often seemed tenuous through the decades as state officials rolled out abortion restrictions and presented legal challenges to Roe v. Wade.
This decision by today’s conservative-leaning Supreme Court eliminates federal constitutional protection of abortion rights, leaving it up to individual states.
“It’s disgraceful and definitely a step back as a country,” said Nadia Cabrera-Mazzeo, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico.
New Mexico remains a state where abortion is legal with a commitment from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and other leaders to preserve that status. The Respect New Mexican Women and Families Act was signed into law last year, which removed outdated abortion bans and criminalization from the books.
OHIO:
Ohio abortion bans on the way following death of Roe
Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Ohio legislature is set up to move forward with abortion bans in the state.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday morning that “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.”
TENNESSEE:
Republicans, Democrats split over high court’s abortion ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade tore the nation’s political garment down the middle as it sent abortion decisions back to the state level.
In Tennessee, abortion rights will be nearly outlawed within a month, setting off a celebration among Republicans who passed some of the most restrictive laws in the nation in anticipation the court would reverse the 50-year-old abortion ruling.
Gov. Bill Lee said the landmark Supreme Court decision marks the start of a “hopeful, new chapter” for the country.
Protesters gathered outside the state Capitol in Richmond on Friday, hours after the Supreme Court ruled it would overturn abortion protections established under Roe v. Wade. (Photo by Kate Masters / Virginia Mercury)
VIRGINIA:
Youngkin vows to ‘protect life’ as Supreme Court overturns right to abortion
Gov. Glenn Youngkin applauded Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision abolishing the constitutional right to an abortion and said Virginia Republicans will get to work on legislation “protecting the life of unborn children” by potentially banning most abortions after 15 weeks.
“The Supreme Court of the United States has rightfully returned power to the people and their elected representatives in the states,” Youngkin said in a statement released roughly an hour after the court handed down the seismic ruling that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. “I’m proud to be a pro-life governor and plan to take every action I can to protect life. The truth is, Virginians want fewer abortions, not more abortions.”
WISCONSIN:
Wisconsin leaders react to Supreme Court decision eliminating abortion rights
Wisconsin politicians reacted swiftly to the news on Friday that the U.S. Supreme Court had overturned the precedent set by Roe v. Wade, which had established a federally protected right to abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Republicans, who earlier this week refused to take up Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ call to repeal Wisconsin’s 1849 felony abortion ban, were jubilant.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos called Friday’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization “a victory for life.”
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