Supreme Court to Decide Roe v. Wade Abortion Case

The Supreme Court is about to start hearing arguments in a landmark Roe v. Wade abortion case on December 1.

With both conservatives and liberals ready to present their sides, the outcome will likely redefine abortion laws all across the United States.

Supreme Court can give a verdict in favor of Mississippi to overturn Roe v. Wade

Having a 6-3 conservative majority in the Supreme court, conservatives are hoping the court could overturn the legalization of abortion.

In May 2021, the Supreme Court decided to hear arguments for a Mississippi law that directly challenges the Roe v. Wade verdict.

Under the Mississippi law, any abortion beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy is illegal, which bans abortion almost two months before the Roe v. Wade verdict allowed.

In recent years, Republican-led states have passed various anti-abortion laws. Yet, most of them were struck down by the appeals court, due to the Roe v. Wade precedent set by the Supreme Court.

However, if the verdict is overturned by the conservative-dominated court this time, it will pave the way for many Republican states to start banning abortions.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch wrote in the Washington Times that the court’s decision in the case is based on “political intuition” and not “sound reasoning,” adding that it violates the US Constitution.

Chief Justice John Roberts, who will lead the bench in the hearings, has a history of commenting for and against abortion.

During the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations, he opposed the abortion verdict of the court.

However, in 2005, during his Senate hearings for the post of the US Chief Justice, he noted the decision should be respected, especially after it was reaffirmed by the court in 1992.

The court legalized abortion in 1973 under the Roe v. Wade case

Roe v. Wade is a historic abortion case in which Norma McCorvey, a woman with the pseudo name “Roe,” became pregnant in 1969 and wanted to seek an abortion.

However, she was a resident of Texas, a state where abortion was illegal unless necessary to save a mother’s life.

So, McCorvey’s lawyers filed a lawsuit in a federal court against a local district attorney, Henry Wade, noting the abortion laws in Texas were unconstitutional.

The court, after listening to the arguments of both parties, gave a verdict in favor of Roe, hence allowing her an abortion.

Although Texas challenged the decision in the Supreme Court, the highest court also ruled in favor of Roe, noting the pregnant woman had a right to decide whether she wanted to have a pregnancy or drop it.

However, the court balanced the ruling by dividing the legality of abortion in trimesters. Abortion was illegal in the third trimester, unless pregnancy posed a threat to the mother’s health.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR