Former American President Barrack Obama says the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade abortion rights ruling “reverses 50 years precedent, attacking the essential freedoms of Americans.”

“Today, the Supreme Court not only reversed nearly 50 years of precedent, it relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues—attacking the essential freedoms of millions of Americans,” Mr Obama said in a tweet. 

On Friday, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973),  a U.S. Supreme Court judgment that ruled that United States Constitution protects pregnant women’ liberty to decide to have an abortion.

Justice Samuel Alito on Friday wrote the majority opinion that tossed out the case. Mr Alito was joined by the five other conservatives on the high court, including Chief Justice John Roberts.

“The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives,” the opinion said. 

The case was met with a 6-3 decision, with the court’s three liberal justices filing a dissenting opinion to the ruling. 

The decision has been widely anticipated after a draft of the ruling was exclusively reported by Politico in May. 

Following the leak, Oklahoma passed a near-total ban on all abortions, starting “at fertilization” pending the signature of Republican Governor Kevin Stitt, it would be the most restrictive abortion ban in the U.S.

President Joe Biden had urged Congress to pass legislation codifying Roe v. Wade, saying a woman’s right to have an abortion is “fundamental.” 

“If the court does overturn Roe, it will fall on our nation’s elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman’s right to choose,” Mr Biden said in May.