In a widely anticipated move, the U.S. Supreme Court cast aside a half-century-old ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion, leaving it to states to decide whether or not to permit the procedure.
Friday’s ruling by the high court’s conservative majority came less than two months after an early draft of the decision was leaked to a news site, setting off nationwide protests by abortion-rights activists.
While the high court’s overturning of its 1973 ruling in the case known as Roe v. Wade and a separate case called Planned Parenthood v. Casey does not impose an abortion ban, its legal impact will ripple through the country almost immediately.
