US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade abortion rights ruling

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Supreme Court on Friday overturned Roe v. Wade case, ending the constitutional right to abortion.

In a 6-3 vote, the court struck down the 1973 case that guaranteed the constitutional right to an abortion for about 50 years.

The ruling is expected to lead to abortion bans in nearly half of the states in the country.

"Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his opinion.

President Joe Biden is expected to deliver a speech regarding the decision.

Former President Barack Obama slammed the ruling, saying the top court "relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues—attacking the essential freedoms of millions of Americans."

"The consequences of this decision would be a blow not just to women, but to all of us who believe that in a free society, there are limits to how much the government can encroach on our personal lives," he added.

Planned Parenthood Action, a nonprofit organization, said the court has taken away "our right to abortion," adding that "the court has failed us all — but this is far from over".

Amnesty International said the court's ruling "marks a grim milestone" in the history of the US and "stripped Americans of the right to an abortion."

"People will be forced to give birth. They’ll be forced to seek unsafe abortions. This is the outcome of a decades-long campaign to control the bodies of women, girls, and people who can become pregnant," said the organization on Twitter.

Meanwhile, former US Vice President Mike Pence defended the court ruling, saying: "Today, Life Won."

"By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court of the United States has given the American people a new beginning for life and I commend the Justices in the majority for having the courage of their convictions," he said on Twitter.

The Supreme Court has "righted a historic wrong," Pence added.