09/20/2021

SCOTUS Sets a Date for Arguments in Case that Could Challenge Roe v. Wade

The court will hear arguments Dec. 1, 2021

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will hear arguments Dec. 1 in a case from Mississippi that tests whether all state laws that ban pre-viability abortions are unconstitutional.

The case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Org, has the potential to pose a serious challenge to Roe v. Wade. That is the 1973 ruling that declared that a woman has a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy in the first six months of her pregnancy when the fetus is incapable of surviving outside the womb.

Mississippi bans most abortions after 15 weeks, significantly before fetal viability. A panel of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most conservative in the country, blocked enforcement of the law, finding it in conflict with Roe v. Wade and subsequent abortion decisions.

Please select this link to read the complete article from NPR.