Judges most Americans ignore will decide your right to abortion if Roe falls [View all]

[In It to Win It]

Business Insider

The next big battle over abortion politics is headed for your own backyard.

With the US Supreme Court on the brink of overturning one of its most consequential decisions in modern history, the fight to ban and restrict abortion will move to 50 different state supreme courts scattered across the country.

In a world in which Roe v. Wade is overruled, it is these state courts that often operate outside the national media spotlight that will have the last word on interpreting the right to abortion under each state's constitution.

These judges, who don't get lifetime appointments like US Supreme Court justices, except in Rhode Island, are set to be the ones deciding whether to uphold or overturn slews of state-specific abortion bans and restrictions.

And a quarter of these justices' jobs are on the line in 2022.

In all, 86 state supreme court seats, out of 344 total in the nation, are on the ballot in November. Elections for state supreme court justices may now be the most direct avenue for voters to shape abortion policy for a generation.