The left-leaning HuffPost on Thursday displayed an image of a wire clothes hanger on its front page, a reaction to Justice Anthony Kennedy’s announcement that he is retiring and what it could mean for abortion rights.
“The end of Roe,” read the headline below the hanger, a reference to the court’s 1973 decision in Roe V. Wade, which made abortion legal across the nation. The hanger represents one extreme method some women use would to perform an abortion without professional medical help.
Kennedy is widely seen as a center-right justice, who sided with the liberal wing of the court to provide them a majority on several big cases, including same-sex marriage.
His retirement gives President Trump a second seat on the court to fill, perhaps with a more reliably conservative vote.
After Kennedy’s announcement Wednesday, many liberals worried that his replacement could lead to a new court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
