Millions of American women spent the past five days absorbing the news that instantly reordered their lives
Abortion rights activists, dressed in an outfits from The Handmaid's Tale, lead protestors during a march in Denver, Colorado on June 27, 2022, four days after the US Supreme Court struck down the right to abortion.
Image: Jason Connolly / AFP
CHICAGO — Countless women wept. Some spent the weekend burning white-hot with rage, commiserating with friends and mothers and sisters. Many were fearful, recognizing the feeling of a freedom being taken away and thinking to themselves: This could only get worse.
Millions of American women spent the past five days absorbing the news that the Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade, erasing the constitutional right to a legal abortion that had held for nearly a half-century.
The decision instantly reordered the lives of women across the country.
Some women, especially conservative Christians, reveled in the decision as a moral and legal victory. But a poll released Sunday revealed that a sizable majority of women in the United States — 67% — opposed the court’s ruling to overturn Roe, and 52% of Americans said it was a step backward for the nation.
For women who had sought abortions in states where clinics were forced to shutter, the ruling was an immediate catastrophe, jeopardizing their decision to terminate their pregnancies.
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