The fallout from the US Supreme Court ruling on 24 June that overturned Roe vs Wade, the decision that had guaranteed safe, legal abortions in America since 1973, is still being felt across the country. It was not exactly a surprise, since a draft decision had been leaked in May, but the reaction of many was still one of shock. The provision of abortion was one of the great feminist victories of the twentieth century, and Roe vs Wade underwrote other rights, including to gay marriage and access to contraception. Since the decision Joe Biden, the president, has signed an executive order to protect access to abortion and Congress has passed a bill to protect same-sex marriage at the federal level, though it’s not clear whether the bill will make it through the senate. What does the overturning of Roe mean for progress? And where does feminism go next? The New Statesman exchanged emails about this with the philosopher and feminist Judith Butler, who is the Maxine Elliot professor of comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley. The exchange has been edited for length and clarity.
Alona Ferber: What first crossed your mind when you saw Roe vs Wade had been overruled?
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