The 1973 ruling prohibited states from banning abortions across the US and is a bedrock of modern US abortion rights.
Pro-abortion rights supporters and anti-abortion rights activists took to the streets of the United States capital on Monday night, shortly after a leaked draft majority opinion indicated the country’s conservative-controlled Supreme Court planned to overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling, which legalised abortion nationwide.
The rival protests in Washington, DC embodied a debate over access to abortion that has polarised US politics for decades.
In front of the Supreme Court, hundreds of abortion rights supporters shouted “Abortion is healthcare” and “My body, my choice”.
Meanwhile, anti-abortion rights advocates also gathered at the site chanted slogans such as, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Roe v Wade has got to go”.
The 1973 Roe v Wade ruling prohibited states from banning abortions within the first trimester of pregnancy, arguing that the hardship caused by prohibiting abortions amounted to a violation of an individual’s constitutionally protected right to privacy.
Subsequent Supreme Court rulings, notably in the Planned Parenthood of southeastern Pennsylvania versus Casey in 1992, have further prohibited states from creating “undue burdens” for those seeking an abortion.
Credit: bbc.com
