A leaked draft document shows the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, which has constitutionally protected reproductive rights for nearly half-a-century.
About half of U.S. states are expected to ban abortion altogether if Roe falls.
Thirteen states have so-called “trigger laws” that would immediately ban abortion if the law is overturned. Though Arizona is not among them, Gov. Doug Ducey has signed some of the nation’s most prohibitive abortion bills in recent months: one bans the procedure after 15-weeks of pregnancy with no exception for victims of rape or incest. The other bans abortion based on genetic considerations, including Down Syndrome.
Ducey has an unbroken voting record on restricting reproductive rights and has previously stated he supports a full reversal of Roe v. Wade.
The latest poll by Gallup on U.S. abortion attitudes finds 58% of Americans opposed to overturning the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, while 32% are in favor. Since it was put in place, the majority of Americans have wanted to maintain the landmark abortion decision.
A nationwide protest against the U.S. Supreme Court's potential reversal has been scheduled this evening at 5:00 local time at federal courthouses, city halls and other government buildings across the country.
In a statement released today, Brittany Fonteno, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Arizona, Inc. said overturning Roe v. Wade would do the most harm to Arizona's rural and low-income communities, as well as "Black, Latino, Indigenous and other people of color who disproportionately feel the effects of abortion bans and restrictions, a product of the country's legacy of racism and discrimination."