The US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday, June 24, holding that there is no longer a federal constitutional right to an abortion.
It's the most consequential Supreme Court decision in decades, and it reverses nearly 50 years of precedent. Going forward, abortion rights will be determined by states unless Congress acts.
At least 21 states have laws or constitutional amendments already in place that would make them certain to attempt to ban abortion as quickly as possible, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which favors abortion rights. And an additional four states are likely to ban abortions as soon as possible without federal protections.
The vote was 5-4 in favor of overturning Roe, and it was made possible by a solid conservative majority, including three of Donald Trump's nominees.
"Roe was egregiously wrong from the start," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his majority opinion. "Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences."
Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented, saying women's rights are under attack. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a concurring opinion that he would not have overturned Roe; he only would have upheld Mississippi's law banning abortions after 15 weeks.
Here are some of the stories that made headlines over the past week, as well as some photos that caught our eye.
