What does Anthony Kennedy's retirement mean for Roe v. Wade?

The days of the Supreme Court protecting the reproductive freedom of American women are about to end

Pro-life and pro-choice demonstrators clash
(Image credit: KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)

Anthony Kennedy's retirement from the Supreme Court will give the Republican Party a more right-wing five-person majority, with four of those five justices nominated by presidents who lost the popular vote. This is, to say the least, a distressing moment for American democracy. And while there will be many bad consequences of a Trumpified Supreme Court, one of the most stark will be the dismantling of a woman's right to choose.

Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion in America, has already been seriously undermined. The 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey allowed states broad leeway to regulate abortion, and the procedure is becoming increasingly inaccessible. But still, some protections for abortion remained. Casey did explicitly re-affirm Roe, and in the 2016 Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt case, Kennedy used his swing vote to side with the majority, voting to strike down Texas regulations that the court said unduly burdened women seeking abortions.

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Scott Lemieux

Scott Lemieux is a professor of political science at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y., with a focus on the Supreme Court and constitutional law. He is a frequent contributor to the American Prospect and blogs for Lawyers, Guns and Money.