RALEIGH, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The Supreme Court on Friday ended constitutional protections for abortion in a decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, but women in North Carolina still have a legal right to an abortion, N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein reaffirmed.

“I have a message for the women of North Carolina: you still have a legal right to an abortion in our state,” Stein said in a statement. “North Carolina state law protects women’s reproductive freedoms.”

The court’s 6-3 decision upended protections that had been in place for nearly 50 years.

Justice Samuel Alito said in the Supreme Court’s opinion Friday that Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision that reaffirmed the right to abortion, were wrong the day they were decided and must be overturned.

Alito said the authority to regulate abortion rests with the political branches, not the courts.

13 states had “trigger” laws, abortion-restricting laws designed to take effect once abortion is no longer protected by the U.S. Constitution. North and South Carolina did not have trigger laws.

Stein said North Carolina’s protections for women are still in place.

“This is true even after the Supreme Court today stripped women of their right to an abortion under the Constitution by overturning Roe v. Wade,” the attorney general said. “If we want to keep our freedoms under state law, then we have to elect state officials who commit to protecting them.”

Governor Cooper echoed Stein’s statement, saying that he trusts women to make their own medical decisions.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster called the decision a “resounding victory” said his office intends to file a motion to make the Fetal Heartbeat Act go into effect immediately and will “begin working immediately with members of the General Assembly to determine the best solution for protecting the lives of unborn South Carolinians.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.