The leaking of a draft US Supreme Court ruling that overturns Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established abortion rights nationwide, created a shockwave in American politics this past week. 

Written by Justice Samuel Alito, the draft opinion on Mississippi’s strict new abortion law holds that the nearly 50-year-old precedent in Roe was “egregiously wrong from the start” and that the issue of abortion should be returned “to the people’s elected representatives”. Should the court’s decision remain unchanged, 26 states are ready to ban abortion outright.