A decision to revoke abortion rights from the high court's conservative majority on 24 June "puts at risk all the liberty and autonomy rights secured by decades of case law both before and after Roe v Wade ", said Jennifer Pizer, the acting chief legal officer with LGBT+ rights group Lambda Legal.
The opinion authored by Justice Samuel Alito states that abortion rights are not "rooted in the nation's history and tradition" and not "mentioned" in the constitution, therefore illegitimate, though he acknowledges that the list is extensive including the right to obtain contraception or marry a person of another race or sex.
As LGBT+ advocates warned the nation about the far-reaching consequences of the Supreme Court's decision in its aftermath, Republican officials took to the airwaves yesterday to justify the landmark ruling, and Democrats urged Congress and President Joe Biden's administration to fortify protections for abortion care.
"Trigger" laws that make abortion illegal, designed to go into effect without Roe protections, were enacted in at least seven states over the weekend. The Republican governors of Arkansas and South Dakota defended their measures - banning abortions even in pregnancies from rape or incest - across Sunday morning news networks.
Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and US Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned the high court's decision and suggested there should be consequences.
"What makes it particularly dangerous is that it sends a blaring signal to all future nominees that they can now lie to dulyelected members of the United States Senate to obtain Supreme Court confirmations," said Ms Ocasio-Cortez, pointing to indications from Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch that they believed Roe was established law in their Senate testimonies.
"I believe lying under oath is an impeachable offense," she added.
This story is from the June 27, 2022 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the June 27, 2022 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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