Currently, the U.S. Supreme Court is in the process of reviewing a Mississippi law that makes abortion illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy. This law was enacted in 2018 in Mississippi, but never legally went into effect. Exceptions to this law are narrow: only those with medical emergencies or “severe fetal abnormalities” are exempt. There are no exemptions for rape or incest. Doctors who disobey this law would have their medical licenses revoked and face fines or additional penalties.
In May, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. In the hearing, Mississippi asked for the overruling of both Roe v. Wade and the 1992 court case Planned Parenthood v. Casey. If Roe is overturned, individual states would have the power to decide whether to allow legal abortions. There are already eight Republican states with trigger laws that would ban abortion immediately if Roe is overturned. These states include Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee. Planned Parenthood v. Casey was the Supreme Court Case that made it illegal for states to prohibit abortions before fetal viability. This case provides an obstacle for the Mississippi law, which would make abortion illegal after 15 weeks. The sole abortion clinic in Mississippi, The Jackson Women’s Health Organization, claims that it is impossible for a fetus to be viable at 15 weeks.
The governor of Mississippi, Tate Reeves, says that he is optimistic that the court will overturn these two Supreme Court cases that provided abortion rights nationwide. “This has been a watershed moment in American history over the last week as this case that many of us in the pro-life movement have hoped would come before the court for many years, and we actually had oral arguments on Wednesday,” he said on CNN last week. He added: “I just want to make sure everyone is clear that if Roe v. Wade is overturned, that doesn’t mean no one in America is going to have access — although that might make people like me happy — but what it does mean is that all 50 states, the laboratories of democracy, are going to have the ability to enact their own laws with respect to abortion.” He’s not wrong, but for those fighting for abortion rights, overturning Roe v. Wade would be a nightmare. Giving individual states the right to change abortion legislation would inevitablely make abortion illegal in Republican states.
Anti-abortion laws just like those in Mississippi are being passed all over Republican-controlled states. These laws pass through the Supreme Court because of the 6-3 conservative majority that it has had since the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020. Justice Ginsburg was replaced with Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who is a staunch conservative. To Barrett, the only issue women face with an unwanted pregnancy is unwanted motherhood. She asked during a hearing, “Why don’t safe haven laws take care of that problem?” These safe haven laws make it legal for mothers to drop off their newborns at police stations or firehouses. She failed to recognize, however, the act of pregnancy itself. She then went on to compare a forced pregnancy to forced vaccination. Although the majority of the court agrees on anti-abortion legislation, they remain divided on how many weeks of pregnancy abortion should be made illegal.
The Mississippi law, if enacted, would be detrimental to women in the state, and there is no doubt that other Republican states would quickly follow in its footsteps. The bodily autonomy of American women–especially those who are living in Republican-controlled states–is on the line as this Mississippi abortion law is examined by the Supreme Court.
