When the United State Supreme Court ruled 7–2 in favor of “Jane Roe,” aka Norma McCorvey, on Jan. 22, 1973, they found that women in the U.S. had a fundamental right to choose whether to have abortions without excessive government restriction, striking down Texas’ abortion ban at the time as unconstitutional.

Now, we have a leaked document obtained by Politico that shows the Supreme Court is poised to reverse itself on that decision, essentially leaving it up to the states to regulate abortions. The initial draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, shows the justices have voted to overturn Roe, although they could change their votes before any decision is finalized.

While Democrats like California Gov. Gavin Newsom have pledged to protect abortion access in their states, we still must questions what the long-term effects of the ruling will be on national and local politics.

On this episode of “The Word” podcast, CSULB professor Jason Whitehead, who specializes in Supreme Court matters, is going to join me to try to help answer how this will affect the country and California.

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