ROE V. WADE OVERTURNED IN DOBBS DECISION

Photo by Fred Schilling. Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States

The decision has devastating implications for LGBTQ+ people.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

June 24 2022 10:28 AM EST

May 31 2023 3:44 PM EST

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The U.S. Supreme Court has done what many considered unthinkable, overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that recognized abortion as a constitutional right.

This does not mean abortion will be outlawed nationwide, but it does mean any state can choose to ban it. It is likely to be banned in about half the states, mostly in the South and Midwest.

The 6-3 ruling came in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which involves a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The court heard the case in December, and a draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, was leaked to the press in May.

Related -- Check out more of the Advocate's news coverage on Pride Today:

The final opinion, released today, was written by Alito. He was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch, and John Roberts, with Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Stephen Breyer dissenting.

"The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives," the ruling reads.

The ruling has grave implications, and not just for cisgender straight women. LGBTQ+ people who can become pregnant need access to abortion. Also, it means all rights to bodily autonomy are threatened -- the right to assisted reproduction, to private consensual sex, and to marry the person of one's choice. Alito and Thomas have already expressed a desire to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.