A women's rights activist says she feels "deep betrayal" after the US Supreme Court overturned the ruling recognising a constitutional right to abortion.
On Friday (local time), the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling, which recognised the constitutional right to an abortion and legalised it nationwide.
Removing abortion as a constitutional right leaves it up to each state as to whether or how it may restrict it. The decision saw several states implement immediate bans, forcing women to travel long distances to access reproductive healthcare.
The ruling sparked nationwide protests as residents took to the streets across the country.
Speaking with AM on Monday, National Co-Chair of the Women's March on Washington Carmen Perez said it will put millions of women at risk.
"I feel deep betrayal by the jurors who swore before the US Congress that they believed that Roe was a settled law. I feel despair," Perez told AM's Ryan Bridge.
She said it's more important than ever that people, including men, fight against the ruling.
"I am extremely driven to continue to fight for women and LGBTQIA communities and especially poor women who don't have access.
"This is the first time in US history that the Supreme Court has reversed past precedent and to strip these rights away from people… I am angered like many people here in the United States but I am going to continue to show up."
Perez said the ruling will push women into "poverty, despair and even death".
Prominent women's rights attorney Julie F. Kay, who joined Perez on AM, agreed warning it won't stop abortion, it will just make it more dangerous.
"As we know, when abortion is criminalised it doesn't go away, it goes underground."
F. Kay said the ruling could also see abortion banned on a national level, meaning states wouldn't have the right to decide.
She said if the Republicans get control of Congress they could ban it for the entire country.
"It is possible that anti-abortion forces, were they able to have enough of a majority in the House and Senate to override a presidential veto or if they controlled the branches of government, they could pass the so-called Human Life Amendment which would criminalise abortion on a national level.
"The consequences are really horrific, for women who are seeking abortion services, but as well I think it's really important to note that these bans on abortion also affect maternal healthcare. "The maternal mortality rate is really horrible in our country and disproportionately affects women of colour but we've seen too many tragic cases worldwide of women who are experiencing miscarriages where they are not treated and eventually they have developed sepsis and died."
