The US Supreme Court has overruled a historic ruling which recognised a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.
It means individual states now have the power to decide whether to allow, limit or ban access to the procedure.
THE SUPREME COURT HAS OVERTURNED ROE V. WADE, ELIMINATING THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO ABORTION.https://t.co/ZNYRs3QnpJ
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 24, 2022
At least 25 states are poised to introduce new laws making it illegal to access abortion in many cases.
Some of the states plan to rule out abortion even where conception has resulted from rape or incest.
The Supreme Court opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito overturns the Roe-v-Wade which legalised abortion up to the point of viability - generally accepted to be 24 weeks gestation - across the US.
It then largely upheld that right in 1992 in a decision known as Planned Parenthood-v-Casey.
Today’s opinion overturns both decisions with Justice Alito claiming they were wrong the day they were decided and must be overturned.
The new opinion upholds a Republican-backed Mississippi law which will ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
