Roe vs. Wade: Global Implications for Reproductive Rights

In 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled that there was a right to abortion based on the implied right to privacy in the constitution in a case called Roe V Wade. Prior to that ruling, the debate over abortion rights was generally non-partisan and state-based. By the mid-70s, the anti-abortion movement had gone nationwide and positioned itself along party lines and used that connection to the Republican Party to grow. Over time, the Republican Party became the anti-abortion party and used judicial appointments to weaken abortion rights further. The several decades of increasing pressure on republican nominees and officeholders to appoint anti-abortion judges resulted in a SCOTUS that is largely conservative and is poised to overturn this ruling.

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