In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has turned over authority on abortion law to elected officials in individual states.

It overturns the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which enshrined the constitutional right to abortion in the first two trimesters across the United States.

The majority opinion was written by Samuel Alito and supported by Chief Justice John Roberts and Clarence Thomas along with three Donald Trump appointees: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.

Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan—all appointed by Democratic Party presidents—dissented from the majority.

Not long after the decision was released, demonstrators gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.

https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1540344501981642758

The ruling has been condemned by Democrats and women's-rights activists.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described it as "outrageous and heart-wrenching".

"But make no mistake: the rights of women and all Americans are on the ballot this November," Pelosi declared.

https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi/status/1540346655723196419

U.S. senator Elizabeth Warren told CNN that there are "six extremist justices on the United States Supreme Court who have decided that their moral and religious views should be imposed on the rest of America".

"And in a democracy on this issue, the Supreme Court does not get the last word, the people do," Warren declared. "We are going to fight back. 

"We've got tools," she continued. "We're going to use them and in November, we're going to make sure that we elect enough people who believe in that democracy that we can pass Roe v. Wade and make it the law of the land again—only this time we'll do it by statute and enforce it."