[JURIST] Reversing the US Supreme Court's abortion decision in Roe v. Wade [LII backgrounder; opinion text] would not prevent wealthy women from getting abortions, but would have a "devastating" effect on underprivileged females, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg [OYEZ profile] said in a Sunday speech at an Atlanta synagogue. Ginsburg said that upper- and middle-class women who can afford to travel will go to states allowing the procedure, while poor women will be blocked from doing so. Noting the recent conservative swing of the Court, Ginsburg indicated that should the issue come up, she will continue to hold in favor of the right to an abortion as established in Roe.

In April, the Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] issued an order [PDF text; JURIST report] vacating a 2005 decision [PDF text] by the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit striking down Missouri's 1999 "partial-birth" abortion ban. Earlier that month, the Court held in Gonzales v. Carhart [Duke Law case backgrounder; JURIST report] that groups challenging the ban [JURIST news archive] had "not demonstrated that the Act, as a facial matter, is void for vagueness, or that it imposes an undue burden on a woman's right to abortion based on its overbreadth or lack of a health exception." The 5-4 decision marked the first time the Court has upheld a complete ban on an abortion procedure. AP has more. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has local coverage.