The U.S. Supreme Court in a historic decision Friday overturned Roe v. Wade.

The pending decision had already sparked rallies and protest nationwide. It is expected to light the fire for even more in the coming days.

The decision takes away a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion that was in place for nearly 50 years.

Alexandria Piland, Chair of the Democratic Party of Sandoval County, told the Observer in an email statement that the decision “tells us that the majority of the SCOTUS believes that a woman’s purpose and focus is to carry children.”

“It sets this country back more than fifty years and sends a very clear message to women in this country that they cannot be trusted to make their own health care and life decisions,” Piland added. “New Mexican women are and have been depending on our Democratically led Legislature and elected officials to protect a woman’s right to choose in the State of New Mexico.  They have already made great strides, and we support them as they continue in that direction. This makes voting even more important in November.”

The ruling follows the leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito indicating the court was prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade about a month ago.

In the final opinion released today, Alito said:

“Abortion presents a profound moral issue on which Americans hold sharply conflicting views. Some believe fervently that a human person comes into being at conception and
that abortion ends an innocent life. Others feel just as strongly that any regulation of abortion invades a woman’s right to control her own body and prevents women from achieving full equality. Still others in a third group think that abortion should be allowed under some but not all circumstances, and those within this group hold a variety of views about the particular restrictions that should be imposed.”

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Alito said in the opinion. “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.”

President Barack Obama in a tweet denounced the decision.

Barack said: “Today, the Supreme Court not only reversed nearly 50 years of precedent, it relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues—attacking the essential freedoms of millions of Americans.”

President Joe Biden is expected to hold a press conference regarding the court’s decision this afternoon from the White House.

Here is a statement from New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued today:

“The moment we have long dreaded has arrived, and our nation will be the worse for it. With this ruling, the Supreme Court has unilaterally thrown out 50 years of judicial precedent and subverted the will of millions of Americans who believe in a woman’s right to make her own decisions about her body.

“Today, a new generation of women will be forced to face a future where they cannot seek safe, legal abortions; a future where they must navigate an increasingly draconian patchwork of restrictions to get care; a future where they live in perpetual fear that they may be required to carry a pregnancy against their will – conceived under horrific circumstances like rape or incest, or that may risk their very life; a future where they fear that their neighbor might report them or their doctors to the police if they attempt to seek care in another state.

“This opinion is the culmination of decades of careful, sinister planning by hyper-partisan, archconservative Republican leaders in D.C. For years, they have pushed for cruel restrictions on women at every turn – inhibiting access to contraceptives and forcing them to endure torture during the simple act of walking into an abortion clinic. Let’s be clear – this decision not only affects a woman’s right to choose, but also a woman’s right and ability to seek medically-necessary health care.

“This ruling will destroy both lives and livelihoods. Make no mistake: this is a war on women. The effort is not to protect life but to diminish it, to control women and relegate them as second-class citizens.

“In anticipation of this very moment, we took action. We eliminated New Mexico’s antiquated trigger ban on abortion, safeguarding the right of every woman in this state to make critical decisions about their own health and to decide for themselves – and their families – when to have children. As the laws in this country change before our very eyes, I will continue to fight for the right to a safe, legal abortion in New Mexico and stand as a brick wall against those who seek to punish women and their doctors just because they seek the care they need and deserve.”

This story will be updated throughout the day.