Democrats, Republicans gear up for long battle over abortion ruling

US grapples with new level of division after Supreme Court scraps abortion rights

WASHINGTON • Elected leaders across the US political divide are rallying for a long fight on abortion – state by state and in Congress – with total bans in force or expected soon in half of the country.

Two days after the United States Supreme Court scrapped half-century constitutional protections for the procedure, abortion rights defenders kept up their mobilisation, with a candlelight vigil outside the high court in Washington on Sunday night.

Dozens of arrests and some instances of vandalism were reported during a weekend of mostly peaceful protests that turned disorderly in places, as the country grapples with a new level of division – between states where abortion is or will soon be illegal, and those that still allow it.

Conservative-led state legislatures have moved swiftly, with at least eight imposing immediate bans on abortion – many with exceptions only if a woman’s life is in danger – and a similar number to follow suit within weeks.

In a first glimpse of the legal battles ahead, the country’s largest abortion provider Planned Parenthood filed a suit in Utah seeking to block the state’s ban.