January 1, Supreme Court to hear case that could overturn Roe v. Wade

The Supreme Court announced that it would hear a case regarding a Mississippi abortion law on Dec. 1, marking one of the most notable cases that may lead to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Roe v. Wade is a landmark Supreme Court case from 1973 which legalized abortion nationwide before viability, which can occur at about 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act allows abortion after 15 weeks “only in medical emergencies or for severe fetal abnormality” and makes no exception for rape or incest. Doctors who violate the law will have their medical licenses suspended or revoked. Though the state law passed in 2018, two federal courts blocked it.

“The conclusion that abortion is a constitutional right has no basis in text, structure, history, or tradition,” Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R) wrote in a July brief to the Supreme Court.

A district court blocked the law, a decision upheld by a federal appeals court.

“States may regulate abortion procedures prior to viability so long as they do not ban abortions,” said a panel of US Circuit Court of Appeals judges in December 2019.

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Supreme Court to hear restrictive Mississippi abortion law on December 1