In a landmark decision in the 1973 “Roe vs. Wade” case, the court held that access to abortion is a woman’s constitutional right, repealing state laws that restricted the procedure.
In a 1992 ruling in “Planned Parenthood v. Casey,” the Supreme Court guaranteed the right to interrupt the pregnancy until the fetus was viable outside the uterus, something that occurs between 22 and 24 weeks of gestation.
However, those rulings did not end conservative and religious opposition to abortion, and anti-abortion activists believe their time has come to an end after years of political and legal battles.
Consequently, after 50 years, that right falters in the framework of a series of attacks against it in lower courts.
Today, the date on which the high court begins to study the matter, could be the final one.
“We recognize the magnitude of what we are asking for,” Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch wrote in a column in The Washington Post.
He added that it is time to correct the “mistake” made by the Supreme Court in 1973.
“We hope and pray that this Supreme Court decision may be a historic turning point for the protection of the most vulnerable,” said the anti-abortion group “March for Life”, calling itself “defenders of life.”
The Mississippi law in question, which is from 2018, prohibits abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy and makes no exception for rape or incest. It was blocked as unconstitutional in lower courts until it ended up in the Supreme Court.
By simply agreeing to hear the case, the court indicates its willingness to review previous rulings, at least as far as “feasibility” is concerned.
The southern Mississippi, a conservative state in the so-called biblical belt of the United States, demands that the high court go even further and annul the “Roe vs. Wade” ruling.
“Nothing in the constitutional text, structure, history or tradition supports the right to abortion,” argued the state in a brief presented to the court, the AFP news agency reported.
With the case called “Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization – name of the Mississippi clinic – a crucial battle for reproductive freedom is fought over several generations.
The process will also serve to test whether Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Barrett, the three conservative judges appointed by Trump, will fulfill the former president’s promise to overturn the sentence that guarantees abortion.
The entry of these three magistrates tipped the balance in favor of the Conservatives with a 6-3 majority, wider than the historic 5-4 majority.
Mississippi received backing from 18 other Republican-led states, hundreds of legislators, the Catholic Church and anti-abortion groups, some of whom put millions of dollars into publicity campaigns.
The impact of the new magistrates became evident on September 1 when the Supreme Court rejected a request to block a Texas law prohibiting abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
Julie Rikelman, a lawyer with the Center for Reproductive Rights, who will defend the case in court, believes that if judges uphold Mississippi law “it would be possible for states to ban abortion at virtually any time during pregnancy.”
Pro-abortion activists, medical associations, women’s rights and civil rights groups reported to the court along with hundreds of Democratic lawmakers and some 500 top athletes, including soccer star Megan Rapinoe.
“Forcing a woman to continue a pregnancy against her will is a profound intrusion on her autonomy, her physical integrity and her egalitarian position in society,” the Justice Department warned in a brief before the Court.
The magistrates will have until next June to make a decision.
Source From: Ambito
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