Abortion rights backers rally in anger

Abortion rights supporters demonstrating at hundreds of marches and rallies yesterday expressed their outrage that the Supreme Court appears prepared to scrap the constitutional right to abortion that has endured for nearly a half-century and their fear about what that could mean for women’s reproductive choices. Incensed after a leaked draft opinion suggested the court’s conservative majority would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, activists spoke of the need to mobilise quickly because Republican-led states are poised to enact tighter restrictions. Polls show that most Americans want to preserve access to abortion – at least in the earlier stages of pregnancy – but the Supreme Court appeared to be poised to let the states have the final say.