Abortion rights are under attack, again

This could be the first period in US history where women and girls may have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers had.

Pro-Choice supporters displaying signs were joined Attorney Gloria Allred and Norma McCorvey, 'Jane Roe' plaintiff from Landmark court case Roe vs. Wade, during a Pro Choice Rally, July 4,1989. Picture: Bob Riha Jr

This could be the first period in US history where women and girls may have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers had.

Roe v Wade, the landmark case in the 1970s, which made abortion legal around the US is under threat.

The case from 1973, heard before the US Supreme Court, enshrined a constitutional protection of the right to any abortion, for any reason, until around the 23-week mark of a pregnancy.

There was a subsequent fight in 1992, Planned Parenthood v Casey, but the OG ruling was upheld.

If this law is overturned, as a leaked document from the Supreme Court suggests it may be, the politicians of individual states would be able to decide whether to allow, restrict or ban terminations (similar to Australia).

Should the federal legislation be overturned, the US would join only three countries that have tightened abortion laws as opposed to loosening them since 1994.

About 66 countries prohibit abortion, or allow it only if a woman's life is in danger, according to the Centre for Reproductive Rights - an organisation that fights abortion restrictions.

Former US Attorney Gloria Allred and Norma McCorvey, the 'Jane Roe' plaintiff from the court case Roe vs. Wade.

What does the leaked document say?

A leak from the Supreme Court, published by Politico, suggested the US Supreme Court could vote to overturn the legislation at a federal level.

The last time this happened was during the original hearing in '70s, so there is no modern precedent for a breach of the court's trust of this magnitude.

The Supreme Court is like Fight Club with robes. There is a strict code of silence until the moment a decision is released. Justices even have their own special private dining rooms so they can discuss cases outside of their chambers with privacy.

People quickly gathered to protest when the news broke late at night in Washington after a "draft majority opinion document" written by Justice Samuel Alito - a conservative bloke who was nominated by Republican President George W. Bush and has served since 2006 -was leaked to the media.

Pro-choice and anti-abortion activists confront one another in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Building on May 3. Picture: Win McNamee

Justice Alito called the Roe v Wade case "wrongly decided" and said the contentious issue, which has ignited political debates for more than a generation now, should be decided by politicians, not the courts.

"Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division," Justice Alito wrote in the document labeled as the "Opinion of the Court".

From the Met Gala, the former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton tweeted, "Not surprising. But still outrageous. This decision is a direct assault on the dignity, rights and lives of women, not to mention decades of settled law."

"It will kill and subjugate women even as a vast majority of Americans think abortion should be legal."

"What an utter disgrace."

What's next

If this happens it'll be up to the individual states in the US to decide whether and when abortions would be legal. A similar model to what we follow here in Australia.

About 26 states are poised to wind back access to reproductive health services available to women.

Many jurisdictions  would continue to allow them, and some like California, have even begun making provisions to help serve women who live in states that are likely to restrict abortion.

A 1989 Pro Choice Rally where Norma McCorvey, "Jane Roe", attended. Picture: Bob Riha, Jr

Some Republican-led states have drafted up and even begun successfully implementing new laws.

Just this year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, signed into law a ban on most terminations after 15-weeks. It's modelled on a similar "ban" in Mississippi which the Supreme Court seems to have upheld also. 

Arizona, also a "red state", waved through similar changes.

The Florida rule contains exceptions only in cases where an abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother or prevent serious injury or if the foetus has a "fatal abnormality". 

Neither the Florida measure, nor the Arizona law, includes exceptions for women who become pregnant as the result of rape or incest. 

Oklahoma’s Republican run state government has passed several laws, including one that makes abortion a crime punishable by up to 10 years in state prison. It also carries a maximum fine of $14,000.

In Kentucky there are plans to establish a register with the names and addresses of doctors who perform abortions, create a certification and monitoring program for those doctors, and make it illegal to mail prescription abortion medication. Medicines like RU486. A drug that was approved by the Australian TGA and legalised by the Australian parliament when John Howard was PM, in 2006.

It's just a draft federal recommendation but things are predicted to change and with it will usher in the first period in US history where women and girls may have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers had.