The 1973 judgement, which prohibits states from prohibiting abortions across the United States, is a cornerstone of current abortion rights in the United States.

On Monday night, pro-abortion rights supporters and anti-abortion rights activists clashed in the streets of Washington, D.C., after a leaked draught majority opinion suggested the country’s conservative-controlled Supreme Court was planning to overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade decision, which legalised abortion nationwide. The duelling protests in Washington, DC encapsulated a decades-long polarisation of US politics over abortion access.

Hundreds of abortion rights activists chanted “Abortion is healthcare” and “My body, my choice” in front of the Supreme Court.

Anti-abortion rights activists gathered at the location as well, chanting slogans like “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Roe v Wade has got to go.”