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The Supreme Court is overturning Roe v. Wade, the decades-old decision which legalized abortion nationwide. It did so while considering a case out of Mississippi where the state attempted to ban abortion after 15 weeks. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito delivered the majority opinion. The actual opinion came weeks after Politico published a leaked draft opinion indicating justices were indeed ready to strike down Roe. In the ruling, Alito writes the authority to regulate abortion is being returned “to the people and their elected representatives.”
Over a dozen states have passed so-called “trigger laws” — abortion bans that will go into effect now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned. Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming had these laws that would practically ban abortion if the landmark case was overturned.