As Urgent As It Gets Parties Square Up As Issue Of Abortion Reshapes Midterms

The stunning revelation that the US supreme court has privately voted to overturn Roe v Wade, immediately thrust one of the most polarising issues in American life to the forefront of the national political debate, and now abortion rights promises to reshape the dynamics of the midterm elections.

- Lauren Gambino

The draft opinion, written by justice Samuel Alito Jr and obtained by Politico in a possibly unprecedented leak from the nation's highest court, would strike down Roe, the landmark supreme court decision that guaranteed access to abortion for nearly half a century, as well as a decision in 1992 - Planned Parenthood v Casey - that largely upheld that right.

The question of whether abortion should be legal, the justice argued, was best answered by individual states.

But the US president, Joe Biden, has urged voters to elect political leaders who would act to protect abortion access and reproductive rights irrespective of the supreme court's final decision. "If the court does overturn Roe, it will fall on our nation's elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman's right to choose,” he said.

Strategists had been preparing for a decision that either weakened or reversed the legal ruling referred to as the Roe v Wade case. But the leak upended the expected timetable and potentially, the legislative agenda.

The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said he would bring legislation to the floor that would codify abortion access in federal law. But the measure is unlikely to garner the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate.

A similar measure passed by the Democratic-controlled House last year does not have the support of all 50 Democratic senators.