Updated May 12, 2022 - Politics & Policy
Axios Explains: AbortionDashboard: The latest on Roe v. Wade and abortion
The latest:
- Louisiana abortion bill allowing homicide charges against patients stopped for now
- Businesses face major benefits questions amid Roe uncertainty
- Medical education of abortion could be erased in red states
- Roe is reshaping America’s political landscape
- Biden says same-sex marriage under threat if Roe v Wade overturned
- How religion impacts Americans’ views on abortion
- Newsom unveils plan to increase funding for abortion access in California
- Bill to protect abortion rights fails to pass Senate
- Congress poised to increase security for Supreme Court justices
- Blue states move to protect abortion access without Roe
- Poll: Over half of young women say they would get an abortion even if it were illegal
Go deeper:
- Red states crack down on abortion pills
- What abortion access would look like if Roe v. Wade is overturned
- Abortions could require 200-mile trips if Roe is overturned
- The political leanings of the Supreme Court justices
- Red states race to enact new abortion restrictions
Catch up quick:
The Supreme Court is prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to a leaked draft document first published by Politico.
Driving the news: Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the leaked Supreme Court draft document on the end of Roe v. Wade, but said it did not represent the court's final decision.
Roberts said the court will open an investigation into the leak.
- The document was authored by Justice Samuel Alito in February and according to Politico, Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett all voted with Alito.
- “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” the draft states.
- "We can only do our job, which is to interpret the law, apply longstanding principles of stare decisis, and decide this case accordingly. We therefore hold that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. Roe and Casey must be overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives," per the draft.
- These draft documents don't reflect final vote tallies, but Republican-appointed justices have a 6-3 advantage on the court.
- The decision should be released sometime within the next two months and Roe is still currently the law though many red states have pushed ahead with abortion bans, confident the new measures will stand.
The big picture: If the Supreme Court were to overturn its precedents, abortion access would no longer be federally protected and instead a patchwork of state laws would govern the procedure, writes Axios' Oriana Gonzalez.