A leaked draft opinion suggests that the Supreme Court is preparing to overturn Roe v Wade. But the verdict will not end fights over abortion in America. Both pro-choice and anti-abortion movements are furiously preparing for what comes next. What will the post-Roe era look like? And if the justices do overturn a 50-year-old precedent and hand decisions on abortion back to the states, what might the Supreme Court do next?
The Economist’s Steven Mazie explains what the leak reveals about the inner workings of America’s highest court. Our correspondent Stevie Hertz visits Illinois and Missouri to find out what the end of Roe will mean in practice. She speaks to Dr Colleen McNicholas, regional chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood, Michele Landeau, head of the Missouri Abortion Fund, and anti-abortion lawyer and state representative Mary Elizabeth Coleman. And David French, a conservative Christian writer and author of “Divided We Fall”, considers whether the reasoning that could overturn Roe might be applied to other constitutional liberties in America.
John Prideaux hosts with Mian Ridge and Jon Fasman.
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The original version of this episode contained an unverified statement about the impact of proposed anti-abortion legislation on access to some forms of contraception. This has now been removed.
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