Roe V Wade: it's about interpreting the US Constitution

There has been outrage over the judgement of the US Supreme Court overturning the historic judgement in Roe V Wade that affirmed women's right to abortion. 

A commonly heard observation is that right-wingers, who hate abortion, have been planted in the Supreme Court by Republican administrations and they have had their way.

One needs to be clear about what the US Supreme Court has said. The Court does not say that abortion is bad and should be outlawed. No, it says that the US Constitution does not include the right to abortion. So, if people want the right to abortion, it is up to individual states to make legislation that reflects the will of the people. 

The SC is interpreting the Constitution as it understands the document. It is not taking a position on abortion. If the people of the US want an overarching legislation that confers the right to abortion across states, it is is up to Congress to make suitable amendments to the US Constitution. I'm afraid many of the harsh comments on the judgement seem to overlook these points.

FT has provided excerpts from the judgement that make the above points crystal clear. Here is a quote from the majority judgement written by Justice Samuel Alito:

We hold that Roe and Casey (another ruling on the abortion question) must be overruled. The constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely — the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. That provision has been held to guarantee some rights that are not mentioned in the constitution, but any such right must be “deeply rooted in this nation’s history and tradition” and “implicit in the concept of ordered liberty”.

A concurring judgement by Justice Cavanagh provides the clarification I mention above:

 To be clear, then, the court’s decision today does not outlaw abortion throughout the United States. On the contrary, the court’s decision properly leaves the question of abortion for the people and their elected representatives in the democratic process.  ..... In sum, the constitution is neutral on the issue of abortion and allows the people and their elected representatives to address the issue through the democratic process. In my respectful view, the court in Roe therefore erred by taking sides on the issue of abortion.