There have been several abortion-related or abortion-challenging cases presented to the Supreme Court in recent months. On Wednesday, however, the most direct challenge to Roe v Wade out of all of them will be argued before the court in the case of Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health in which the state of Mississippi is directly asking for the court to toss out the previous precedent and return abortion as a legal matter to the states. Unlike most SCOTUS proceedings, audio of the oral argument will be live-streamed, the embed is available below:
Live audio stream starting at 10 am ET:
What’s at stake in this case, in particular, is the precedent that currently prevents states from enacting abortion restrictions that violate a woman’s right to an abortion, as decided in the original Roe v Wade:
The state of Mississippi will be arguing that the Supreme Court should allow it and other states to ban abortion after 15 weeks. More specifically, it’s asking the court to strike down a lower court’s decision blocking its 15-week abortion ban from taking effect. Passed in 2018, Mississippi’s law encountered a legal challenge from Jackson Women’s Health Organization, an abortion clinic that claims Mississippi’s law is unconstitutional and should be permanently blocked because it violates previous court decisions on the issue.
The court’s nine justices will be present and have the chance to ask both sides about their reasoning. For Mississippi, the state’s solicitor general, Scott Stewart, will be arguing in favor of the law. On the other side will be attorney Julie Rikelman and U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar.
While the case is being argued today, the decision will not be delivered until sometime in 2022, potentially setting up a midterm election issue for both sides. While the court usually tries to avoid dropping onerous, controversial decisions right before an election, the timing here could put this decision right in the middle of the midterm battle.
If the court would overturn Roe or Casey, as Mississippi is asking, abortion would immediately become illegal in 21 states:
If the court were to overturn Roe and Casey, access to abortion in America would shrink dramatically and immediately. Twenty-one states have laws in place that would ban all or nearly all abortions if Roe and Casey fell. And even if the court does not formally overturn Roe and Casey, a decision weakening those precedents would permit new abortion restrictions, perhaps including bans on some early-stage abortions.
The stakes are high for both sides given the changes that have taken place in the makeup of the court. Thanks to President Trump’s three SCOTUS appointments, the leanings of the court have shifted more conservative, but that does not automatically guarantee a court that stands in lock-step with activists or pro-life advocates.
We have seen a mixed bag, so far, with the court tip-toeing around abortion rulings, but this case will require a more specific ruling and could have long-lasting ramifications for both sides.
UPDATE
More analysis and reaction to today’s oral arguments are available here.
