Roe v Wade upended - what does this mean for women in the United States?

Within minutes of the ruling, conservative states were changing their laws, as ITV News US Correspondent Emma Murphy reports

Today this country is wrestling with what may be the greatest legal setback to women’s rights in the western world.

The overturning of Roe v Wade won’t make abortion illegal across America, but it will mean abortion is illegal in around half the states. Individual states can basically outlaw it as they wish - and many will.

The nationwide right to abortion, granted half a century ago, will be gone and some states will make it illegal to travel elsewhere to end a pregnancy.

Birth is an expensive business in the United States - even with healthcare insurance it costs around £10,000 to deliver in hospital.

The states that will ban abortion are predominantly in the south, home to most of America’s black population.

They are often low income areas with real structural disparity when it comes to healthcare, childcare and contraception.

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As a result, the impact will be felt hardest by the poorest, those who cannot afford to have a baby or afford to travel for an abortion.

Many of those seeking a termination in the United States already have at least one child. The financial responsibility of another often drives their decision. This ruling effectively denies that option.

The judgement handed down by the Supreme Court today is not just about the right to chose, it is about women’s rights, parent’s rights, civil rights, healthcare rights, race and politics.

Yet again the inequity and divisions in this country are laid bare.