abortion bans

What would it mean if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade

The draft is not final and could undergo significant changes before the court’s formal opinion is released. In the meantime, however, CNN readers have asked hundreds of questions about what a reversal of the Supreme Court’s abortion rights precedents would mean and how it will affect access to the procedure.

We’re reading as many as we can and answering some of the most popular questions here.

Is the Supreme Court actually overturning the law or merely saying the decision belongs with each state’s law?

The Supreme Court, if it adopts the draft opinion, will be overturning previous court precedent that preempted state laws banning abortion before the fetus is viable, a point around 23 weeks into the pregnancy. In overturning the Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood decisions, the Supreme Court would be allowing states to pursue bans and other restrictions on pre-viability abortion.

However, such a ruling will not have the effect of banning abortion nationwide. According to the logic expressed in the draft decision (and with the caveat that it can still be changed before the final opinion comes out), the question of abortion policy would then go to state and local lawmakers — and potentially
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