How overturning Roe will reverberate through America

In overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court has taken the momentous step of ending a federal right to abortion that has existed since 1973, a decision likely to reverberate in American life, politics, and law in unpredictable ways for years, if not decades, to come.

At the start it is almost certain to divide the nation into zones, with about half the states enacting total bans on abortion, and others allowing it. Some blue states, such as California, are already planning how to deal with out-of-state travelers in search of the procedure.

The decision’s long-term legal implications remain unclear. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, emphasized that abortion is a unique case in that it terminates a life or potential life, and thus the court’s action would not threaten other rights that have been based on reasoning similar to Roe’s. But Justice Clarence Thomas, in a concurrence, appeared to differ, writing that the court should now reconsider past rulings that protect same-sex marriage, same-sex relationships, and access to contraception.