An extract from this morning's letter from the Guardian to its subscribers about possible ramifications arising from the Supreme Court's decision. I don't think it's over the top.

Dear Steve,

The news had been leaked, digested and lamented weeks ago - but it still came as a shock.

Friday’s decision by the US Supreme Court to remove a woman’s right to an abortion is perhaps the most stunning to emerge from the institution since the second world war.

It’s made for an extremely busy time for our US team, who have investigated the impact for maternal mortality, mapped ‘abortion deserts', explored the influence of Christian nationalists over the US courts, and informed readers how they can help.

“It’s really hard to overstate the significance of a decision like this and it’s really almost without parallel in terms of Supreme Court decisions,” the Guardian’s US health reporter Jessica Glenza told our daily podcast show Today in Focus. “Outside of prohibition it’s hard to think of another case where (so many) people’s rights have disappeared overnight.”

But the work for our journalists doesn’t stop here. In a sense, it’s only just begun, because the ramifications of Friday’s decision to strike down Roe v Wade run far and wide.

“In the coming weeks and months, we will seek to answer the many questions raised when the court scrapped nearly 50 years of settled law,” Jessica told me.

“How will women's physical, emotional and financial wellbeing fare in a nation with a maternal mortality crisis, sky-high health costs and a tattered social safety net? Will clinics in states that protect abortion see a surge of out-of-state patients? Will doctors flee states hostile to abortion, fearing prosecution?”

“Then, we will look at fights between states. Will anti-abortion politicians seek to ban patients from crossing state lines? Will calls from anti-abortion campaigners to prosecute women grow? Will friends and family members be branded "accomplices"? And will technology companies safeguard privacy when prosecutions loom? Finally, how will these seismic changes alter the upcoming US election?”

And it’s not just our US teams who are scrambling to cover all the angles. The decision is expected to ripple out globally because of the towering US influence over reproductive rights around the world. Guardian reporters from southeast Asia to east Africa are investigating the upshot for local attitudes and laws governing abortion. The short answer is: not good.