All of the Supreme Court justices were questioned about their judicial beliefs on the legal precedent of Roe v. Wade during their senate confirmation hearings. Here’s what they had to say.
The Supreme Court on Friday overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion, a significant break from a half-century of rulings on one of the nation’s most divisive topics.
The court ruled 6-3 to uphold a Mississippi abortion ban being challenged in the case and 5-4 to overturn Roe. About half of U.S. states have already indicated they would move to ban the procedure.
Here's a breakdown of how each Supreme Court justice sided and their comments on the ruling:
Justices Who Voted to Overturn Roe v. Wade
Amy Coney Barrett
Samuel A. Alito, Jr.
"It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the opinion overturning the ruling, calling the original Roe decision "egregiously wrong and deeply damaging."
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Alito also wrote the draft opinion that circulated in May, which revealed that the Supreme Court was likely to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Brett Kavanaugh
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In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said states should not block people from traveling to get an abortion, citing the “constitutional right to interstate travel.”
Neil M. Gorsuch
Clarence Thomas
Justice Clarence Thomas called on the court to revisit other decisions, including on contraception and same-sex marriage. In his opinion, he wrote that he would do away with the doctrine of "substantive due process" and explicitly called on the court to overrule the rulings in Griswold v. Connecticut, on the right to contraception; Lawrence v. Texas, on the right to same-sex intimacy; and Obergefell v. Hodges, on the right to same-sex marriage.
Justices Who Voted to Uphold Roe v. Wade
Stephen G. Breyer
Sonia Sotomayor
Elena Kagan
Justices Breyer, Kagan and Sotomayor warned overturning Roe v. Wade would threaten other high court decisions in favor of gay rights and even potentially contraception.
The majority “eliminates a 50-year-old constitutional right that safeguards women’s freedom and equal station," according to their dissent. "It breaches a core rule-of-law principle, designed to promote constancy in the law. In doing all of that, it places in jeopardy other rights, from contraception to same-sex intimacy and marriage. And finally, it undermines the Court’s legitimacy.”
John G. Roberts, Jr.
In his opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts urged the court not to overturn the landmark decision.
“Surely we should adhere closely to principles of judicial restraint here, where the broader path the Court chooses entails repudiating a constitutional right we have not only previously recognized, but also expressly reaffirmed applying the doctrine of stare decisis,” he wrote.
