Also Today... SCOTUS will hear oral arguments in the case
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, concerning Mississippi’s ban on all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. It is not an overstatement to say that the Dobb’s case is quite possibly the most important abortion challenge heard by the supreme court since the Roe v. Wadelegalized abortion in 1973.
So, what makes this case so different?
Rather than the court judging a state law which impedes women from obtaining abortions (such as the recent Texas fetal heartbeat bill) the Dobbs case directly challenges the underlying logic of the initial Roe v. Wade decision. In Both Roe as well as the 1992 supreme court case Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the supreme court had previously ruled that states could not make laws that places “undo burden” upon a women obtaining abortions before the point of “fetal viability," determined to be at approximately 24 weeks of gestation. The Mississippi law outright banned abortions after 15 weeks--well before the point of viability--placing the state law in direct conflict with both the Roe and Caseyrulings. Consequently, this case has presented the supreme court with the opportunity to re-evaluate the flawed logic of those previous rulings.
That the supreme court chose to hear the arguments of Dobbs is history-making evidence that it is willing to re-evaluate its previous decisions, an act that will have long standing consequences on court decisions beyond abortion. Both sides of the abortion debate recognize Dobbs presents an
“all or nothing” proposition to the court. If the court upholds the Mississippi law it would essentially overturn both Roeand Casey --a stunning admission of the limitations of the court’s authority to create rights and laws beyond the legislative branch. Alternatively, if the court strikes down the law it would re-affirm the authority of the supreme court to define abortion as a legitimate right protected under law. Should the former happen, at least 20 states are poised to immediately make abortion illegal. Should the latter happen, it will make it almost insurmountably difficult to formally overturn Roe in future challenges. For better or worse, the court’s decision in Dobbs will determine the course of how the pro-life movement will approach abortion in the justice system.
All that is left for us to do now is pray.