The Supreme Court is poised to strike down the right to abortion in the United States, according to a bombshell leaked draft of a majority opinion that suggests it may be poised to overturn the famous Roe v. Wade ruling.
The 98-page draft revealed by Politico calls the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision - which held that access to abortion in the US is a constitutional right - 'egregiously wrong from the start'.
Abortion rights have been under threat in recent months as Republican-led states move to tighten rules - with some seeking to ban all abortions after six weeks, before many women even know they are pregnant.
These include Arizona, where the Republican Governor in March signed a bill banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy; and Idaho where the governor signed a six-week abortion ban that allows family members of the foetus to sue providers who perform abortions past that point, similar to a Texas law enacted last year.
The draft was written by Justice Samuel Alito and has been circulating inside the conservative-dominated court since February. The leak of a draft opinion while a case is still pending is an extraordinary breach.
The court is expected to rule on the case before its term is up in late June or early July. Here, DailyMail.com looks at what the latest developments mean - and the history of abortion laws in the US:
WHAT IS ROE V. WADE?
The Roe v. Wade decision nearly 50 years ago recognised that the right to personal privacy under the US Constitution protects a woman's ability to terminate her pregnancy.
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court decided that the constitutional right to privacy applied to abortion.
Roe was 'Jane Roe,' a pseudonym for Norma McCorvey, a single mother pregnant for the third time, who wanted an abortion.
She sued the Dallas attorney general Henry Wade over a Texas law that made it a crime to terminate a pregnancy except in cases of rape or incest, or when the mother's life was in danger.
Roe's lawyers said she was unable to travel out of the state to obtain an abortion and argued that the law was too vague and infringed on her constitutional rights.
Filing a complaint alongside her was Texas doctor James Hallford, who argued the law's medical provision was vague, and that he was unable to reliably determine which of his patients fell into the allowed category.
The 'Does', another couple who were childless, also filed a companion complaint, saying that medical risks made it unsafe but not life-threatening for the wife to carry a pregnancy to term, and arguing they should be able to obtain a safe, legal abortion should she become pregnant.
The trio of complaints - from a woman who wanted an abortion, a doctor who wanted to perform them and a non-pregnant woman who wanted the right if the need arose - ultimately reached the nation's top court.
The court heard arguments twice, and then waited until after Republican president Richard Nixon's re-election, in November 1972.
Only the following January did it offer its historic seven-to-two decision - overturning the Texas laws and setting a legal precedent that has had ramifications in all 50 states.
WHAT HAS THE SUPREME COURT DECIDED NOW?
The Supreme Court has not decided anything yet, but a draft opinion reportedly circulated among court justices suggests that it may be poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.
A document labelled 'Opinion of the Court' shows a majority of the court's justices earlier this year threw support behind overturning the 1973 case that legalised abortion across the country.
According to Politico - who published the 'leaked document' - the draft opinion shows the court voted to strike down the landmark case. However, it is unclear if the draft represents the court's final word on the matter.
The paper was labelled '1st Draft' of the 'Opinion of the Court' and was said to be referring to
