Yesterday's Supreme Court decisions didn't rule on the California v. Texas case brought by Republican-controlled states to gut the Affordable Care Act. That's been pushed down the road. Instead, the right-wing majority agreed to hear the case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, brought by the state of Mississippi that would ban abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy, with narrow exceptions involving a medical emergency and fetal non-viability. It's seen by pro- and anti-choice proponents alike as a pathway to hollow out Roe v. Wade. From the WaPo article:
"In accepting the case for next term, the court said it would examine whether 'all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional.' That has been a key component of the court’s jurisprudence, and the announcement sounded ominous to abortion rights advocates.
'Antiabortion politicians have exploited their power for this exact moment: the opportunity for the newly comprised Supreme Court to take away our right to abortion,' said Alexis McGill Johnson, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
The Mississippi law would ban almost all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with narrow exceptions for medical emergencies or fetal abnormalities. It has not gone into effect because a federal district judge and a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit said it could not be squared with decades of Supreme Court precedents." (our emphasis)
The Court's next term begins in October, and the expectation is that Trump-appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett will be an advocate for effectively overturning Roe v. Wade using the affirmation of Mississippi's law as the instrument.
BONUS: LGM looks at how this is likely to unfold.
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