The owner of an Alabama clinic was flying home from a conference for abortion providers Monday night when a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion began ricocheting around the world.

As Dalton Johnson read it, he was struck by the bluntness of the language that would end the constitutional right to an abortion, shuttering clinics in about half of American states, including his.

“I’m still in shock,” Johnson said Tuesday.

People on both sides of the abortion divide have been expecting the Supreme Court this summer to reverse the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide. But many said the draft opinion was nevertheless stunning, forcing them to reckon with the reality the nation is likely to enter soon.

“I can’t stop crying,” said an elated Mississippi state Rep. Becky Currie, who sponsored the 2018 law that is the basis for the Supreme Court case. “I am not quite sure I have the words to express how I feel right now, but God has had his hands on that bill since the beginning.”

The leaked draft, published late Monday by Politico, is a 98-page opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which challenged the constitutionality of the Mississippi bill that banned abortion after 15 weeks. If the decision stands as written, it would also overturn Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a 1992 decision that protected abortion services even though it allowed states to add some limitations.

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” the draft opinion states. It was signed by Justice Samuel Alito, a member of the court’s 6-3 conservative majority. According to Politico, four other justices — Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — have agreed with the opinion.

The draft opinion was written in February and the language could change before the court issues its final ruling. As written, it would give states the power to decide the legality of abortion. Roughly half, largely in the South and Midwest, are likely to quickly ban abortion.

Abortion clinics in those states opened Tuesday morning, still seeing patients but uncertain about the future.

The daily rituals unfolded as they always do: protesters screamed at people walking inside, clinic escorts tried to shield them and hustle them in the doors.

“Please overturn Roe v. Wade,” said Barbara Beavers, who stood outside the clinic in Jackson, Mississippi, on Tuesday, trying to persuade people against going inside. “Have mercy on our unborn children. We’re destroying our future, killing our babies.”

Jean Folsom stopped by the clinic on her way to work, to thank the volunteers who help pregnant people pass protesters like Beavers.

“I really appreciate their efforts, and obviously based on the news last night, I’m worried that this is one of the last times I’ll see them,” said Folsom. She and her family eat breakfast every Saturday at a coffee shop near the clinic, and always felt grateful for the volunteers willing to help people in a state where opposition to abortion is strong.

Folsom said she felt devastated when she read the news Monday night.

“I kind of can’t believe that I live in a country where things seem to be moving backwards,” she said.

Inside clinics, the news prompted frantic phone calls. People were confused about whether abortion remains legal, and for how long.

“I immediately felt sick to my stomach,” said Tammi Kromenaker, who owns a clinic in Fargo, North Dakota. “And 20 million thoughts started going through my head about what can we do? What does my staff need to hear? What do our patients need to hear?”

She posted a notice on the website of the clinics: “If you have an appointment at Red River Women’s Clinic, your appointment is safe.”

Katie Quinonez rushed off a plane Tuesday morning and drove straight to the clinic she runs in Charleston, West Virginia. She’d also been attending the National Abortion Federation Conference when the news broke Monday night and she barely slept, she said. She was having nightmares about the Supreme Court.