Legal expert says Supreme Court abortion ruling will cause “increased schism between states”

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that there is no longer a federal constitutional right to an abortion. States will get to decide their own laws surrounding abortion.

Paul Schiff Berman is George Washington University law professor, and former Supreme Court clerk for late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Schiff Berman said, “There will be increasing tensions as women try to go from one state to another to have an abortion.”

With Friday’s ruling states will now decide abortion bans and restrictions. The Associated Press reports bans are expected in roughly half of the states.

Schiff Berman said, “I think we will see an increased schism between states that want to clamp down on all abortion rights and those states that see themselves as sanctuaries for those who are seeking an abortion.”

Schiff Berman questions whether the 14th Amendment’s right to travel between states will prevent laws that criminalize traveling for an abortion. He said potential laws, “Could violate the right to travel. But we don’t know. And so those are the kinds of questions that are going to play out.”

According to the AP, abortion clinics in Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin, and West Virginia stopped performing abortions after Friday’s ruling because of each state’s laws.

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