The American news media Politico published this week a draft from the US Supreme Court which reveals that they may be planning to overturn the verdict that since 1973 has given the country's women the right to abortion until the 24th week of pregnancy.

If the historic verdict, called Roe vs Wade, is overturned, it will be up to each individual state to decide whether abortion should be banned or restricted.

- We know that more than 20 states are already prepared to ban abortion as soon as a ruling like this comes, says Hans Linde.

A setback in development

He goes on to explain how the news goes against the trend that has been seen globally for several decades.

- Abortion resistance in the world has been pushed back.

We have seen how more than 50 countries in recent years have actually liberalized their abortion laws, says Hans Linde and adds:

- A repeal would mean a huge energy injection to not only the abortion resistance in the US, but also globally.

The organization Woman to Woman believes that the United States has been seen as a role model throughout the world with its free abortion rights.

- If this goes through, it will send a signal to conservative regimes around the world that it is more or less free to start restricting the right to abortion, says Petra Tötterman Andorff, Secretary General of Women to Women.

Could this affect Sweden's abortion policy?

- There is definitely a risk for that.

Since the last election, the right to abortion has been an issue on the agenda in a way we could not have believed a few years ago.

Expected to be decided before July

Nine judges are the highest court in the United States, which has conservative leadership after former US President Donald Trump's appointments of three new judges.

Of the nine judges, six are men, all in their 50s, 60s and 70s.

The revelation about the draft has been met with condemnation from groups and organizations that are in favor of abortion law.

They believe that this risks women's health if they are forced to take risky methods or travel thousands of miles to have an abortion.

However, judges' opinions and statements often change during the preparation process, so it is not yet possible to say whether the draft reflects the court's final opinion.

The judges are expected to decide the case before the end of their term of office at the end of June.

Javascript is disabled

Javascript must be turned on to play video

Read more about browser support

The browser is not supported

SVT does not support playback in your browser.

We therefore recommend that you switch to a different browser.

Read more about browser support

Here are three countries where the right to abortion has been strengthened.

Photo: SVT / Reuters, Natacha Pisarenko / AP / TT