The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday it had decided to overturn Roe v. Wade in a landmark decision that reverses a nearly 50-year-old precedent granting women the right to an abortion in all 50 states.
The decision fell along ideological lines, with Republican-appointed judges voting to overturn Roe and the court’s three liberals dissenting. Up to 26 U.S. states are likely to ban or severely restrict abortion over the coming hours, days and weeks.
New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, is among those who have promised to protect and support women who choose to have an abortion, and pledged to make medical services available to women traveling across states for an abortion.
“To those seeking abortions around the country — know that you are welcome here and that we will make every effort to ensure our reproductive services are available and readily accessible to you,” he said on Friday.
“This city will continue to respect, protect, and fulfill the core tenets of our fundamental rights to bodily autonomy and quality, critical, health care for those seeking access to an abortion,” the mayor added.
“ ‘We will make every effort to ensure our reproductive services are available and readily accessible to you.’”
New York’s Governor, Kathy Hochul, wrote on Twitter
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: “Today the Supreme Court rolled back the rights of millions of Americans, disregarding their interests and — more importantly — their lives.”
“Access to abortion is a fundamental human right, and it remains safe, accessible, and legal in New York,” she added. (Other governors of Democratic states, including Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, have made similar pronouncements.)
In New York, women are legally permitted to get an abortion for any reason up to 28 weeks of pregnancy, or later if their health is at risk or their pregnancy will not survive, according to New York City’s Department of Health.
“The decision to have an abortion is a personal one. No one should pressure you to have or not have an abortion,” it says. Health insurance, including Medicaid, may also cover the cost of an abortion in New York State.
“‘Access to abortion is a fundamental human right, and it remains safe, accessible, and legal in New York.’”
The Supreme Court decision pertains to a case related to a Mississippi law that sought to ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, abortion will no longer be protected federally.
Some abortion opponents believe abortion is wrong under any circumstances on moral and religious grounds, while others believe it can be acceptable in cases of rape, incest or in cases when a woman’s life is at risk.
In a statement, Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, called the Supreme Court’s decision to reverse the near-50-year-old ruling “nothing short of a massive victory for life, and it will save the lives of millions of innocent babies.”
“Roe was wrong the day it was decided, and it has been wrong every day since then. If you search for the word ‘abortion’ in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, you won’t find it,” he added. “The Court at the time acknowledged that”
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