The Supreme Court has announced that it will hear oral arguments on December 1st for a Mississippi case involving abortion bans that many hope could challenge Roe v. Wade.
The United States Supreme Court has faced several relevant cases involving abortion, only to reject them or not find them to affect the state of the law. In 2021, the court announced that they would consider Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, a significant case involving a recently passed Mississippi abortion law. The law in question prohibited abortions after the 15th week of a woman's term, barring medical emergencies or fetal abnormalities.
Lower courts have consistently struck the law down, noting the Supreme Court decisions of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The court announced its plans to consider the case in May. The court also stated that they intend to limit its questioning to a particular issue; whether laws restricting pre-viability abortions are unconstitutional.
This questioning has led several legal experts and politicians to view the case as a tool to overturn Roe v. Wade, which was the case that legalized abortion nationwide. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch filed a brief in July, arguing that Roe v. Wade has inflicted "profound damage" and that "And nothing but a full break from those cases can stem the harms they have caused."
Other politicians voiced similar hopes and supported Fitch's motion, including FL Governor Ron DeSantis, SD Governor Kristi Noem, and several Republican members of Congress.
