What Happens If Roe v. Wade Is Overturned?

When a Supreme Court draft opinion, leaked to Politico, indicated the court might abolish Roe v. Wade, we asked ourselves: What happens if the 1973 landmark abortion rights decision is overturned?

We had answered that question back in 2008, finding that jurisdiction would revert to the states, with some outlawing or restricting abortion and others protecting the right to abortion. But of course, that was quite some time ago. 

To provide an up-to-date story on the issue, Managing Editor Lori Robertson and Director Eugene Kiely turned to two sources that track state legislation on abortion: the Center for Reproductive Rights, an advocacy and legal group, and the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research group. 

Both organizations say that about half of U.S. states would be likely to ban or severely restrict abortion if the Supreme Court overrules Roe. 

On the other side of the issue, 16 states plus the District of Columbia have enacted laws protecting the right to an abortion. Those states are home to 38% of the U.S. population. 

Some states haven’t enacted protections for abortion rights, but aren’t likely to ban abortion, while others have abortion protections enshrined in state constitutional case law.

The Supreme Court confirmed that the draft, written by Justice Samuel Alito, is authentic, but said it didn’t represent “the final position” of any justice. We’ll know soon enough what the court decides: A decision in the pertinent case is expected in June. 

For more, see “What Happens if Roe v. Wade Is Overturned?”

Reader: Is Bill Gates connected with a conspiracy against destroying mankind?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: Bill Gates is not connected with a conspiracy to destroy mankind. For some reason, though, he is the subject of many such outlandish claims. 

In March 2021, for example, we addressed a claim that Bill Gates has a "depopulation" agenda. In that story -- "Video Targets Gates With Old Clips, Misleading Edit" -- we wrote:

In a 2010 TED Talk focused on developing new technologies to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Bill Gates briefly mentioned reducing the rate of population growth. A conspiratorial video circulating on Facebook misleadingly edits Gates’ talk to suggest his “wish” was to depopulate the planet through vaccines. 

Just this week, we wrote that an Arizona state senator suggested that Bill Gates is behind some "shady" plot to buy up U.S. farmland, burn down processing plants and drive up food prices.

None of it makes sense. 

In that story, "Unfounded Claims About Frequency and Causes of Food Plant Fires," we write that Gates reportedly owns 242,000 acres of farmland (a small fraction of the 895.3 million acres of farmland in the U.S.) and that the number of fires at food processing plants isn't unusually high. 

I wish I could explain this bizarre obsession with Gates. 

Wrapping Up

Here's what else we've got for you this week:

• "Pediatric Hepatitis Cases May Be Linked to Adenovirus, No Connection to COVID-19 Vaccination": A string of unexplained hepatitis cases in children has been reported in the U.S. and in other countries. The cause is not yet known, but the top suspect so far is a strain of adenovirus. Contrary to some social media posts, there is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccination is involved. Most of the children are too young to even qualify for the vaccine. 
• "DeSantis vs. Disney Q&A": Here we review what we know about the ongoing conflict between the entertainment company and the Republican governor.
• "Article, RNC Tweet Distort Biden’s Comments on Teachers": During an event honoring teachers, President Joe Biden said students are “not somebody else’s children; they’re like yours when they’re in the classroom.” Biden’s words were misrepresented in the National Review, which inaccurately claimed Biden said children “don’t belong to parents” when they’re in the classroom. 
• "Unfounded Claims About Frequency and Causes of Food Plant Fires": Data on the number fires at food-processing plants in 2022 “does not signal anything out of the ordinary,” according to the National Fire Protection Association. Despite no evidence of foul play, unfounded rumors from conservative pundits suggest a rash of “mysterious fires” may be part of a plan to disrupt the food supply.
• "Attack Ad Leaves Misleading Impression on Vance’s View of Trump Voters": It’s well known that JD Vance — Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate in the Ohio Republican primary for U.S. Senate — was no fan of the former president just a few years back. Vance’s past quotes practically write his opponents’ attack ads for them. But the truth isn’t enough in political campaigns. 
• "Democrats Misleadingly Claim ‘Republicans’ Plan’ Would ‘End’ Social Security, Medicare": As part of his plan to downsize the federal government, Republican Sen. Rick Scott says he wants all federal legislation to “sunset” in five years, and “[i]f a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.” Well, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid were all created by legislation. And now Democrats are saying Republicans want to end those programs. 
• "Biden’s Earth Day Exaggerations": On Earth Day, President Joe Biden touted his administration’s environmental initiatives, but his rhetoric made efforts to reduce methane emissions and drinking water contamination sound more expansive than they actually are.

• "Cuando la ciencia es desordenada: Cómo SciCheck maneja las disputas científicas": ¿Qué hace una organización que verifica hechos cuando los hechos no son claros? ¿Y qué pasa cuando científicos de renombre no están de acuerdo sobre una política de salud pública?