Supreme Court orders lower courts to vacate rulings against pro-life laws

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ordered several lower courts to vacate their earlier rulings against pro-life laws, a directive that comes in response to the high court's overturning of Roe v. Wade last week. 

The Supreme Court ordered the repeal of the rulings found at appeals courts for the Seventh, Eighth and Ninth circuits. The laws concerned pro-life laws in Arizona, Arkansas and Indiana.

Two of the laws concerned restrictions on abortion related to fetal abnormalities, while the third involved regulations regarding minors seeking abortions. 

The Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade brought an end to 50 years of federalized abortion rights, with the majority declaring that the case had been improperly decided in 1973. 

Abortion regulations have subsequently returned to state oversight, with many states quickly enacting abortion rules in the wake of the ruling.