On abortion, one of the great fault lines of American politics, a Supreme Court ruling of 1973 has withered all ups and downs in the socio-political landscape. It granted that women have a constitutional right to seek abortion without any government restriction. However, with conservatives in majority, the court is widely expected to overturn the nearly half a century old ruling.

Among other things, the Roe vs Wade fixed 24 weeks of pregnancy as the ‘viability’ time for abortion, after which it would not be allowed. In recent years, however, a number of states ruled by the Republicans have come up with abortion laws restricting the time limit and thus going against the 1973 landmark ruling. The 2018 Gestational Age Act of Mississippi, for example, bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, except for medical emergencies and fetal abnormality. (The new Texas law allows only a six-week window for abortion: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/19/texas-abortion-law-abbott/)

The only abortion clinic in Mississippi, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, challenged the law in the Supreme Court. This week, it heard arguments seeking to overturn the 1973 decision legalizing abortion throughout the US and the court’s 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which had reaffirmed Roe.

Though the final word is expected only by June, during the arguments all six conservative justices (three of them appointed by Trump), gave indications that they would uphold Mississippi’s law: https://apnews.com/article/abortion-justices-remarks-a080dd81bb09bf6be48454f199831fd8

Commentators also expect the Supreme Court is likely to overturn the Roe vs Wade: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/01/opinion/abortion-supreme-court-dobbs-roe-wade.html

The chief justice made an attempt to find a middle path that could retain the 1973 standard and yet allow states to fix a lower limit, but there is no such compromise option possible if the Mississippi law is upheld. The three liberal justices used rather strong words and said justices who contemplate overturning a “watershed” decision of the court “better be damn sure” they can justify it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/mississippi-abortion-roe-v-wade-supreme-court/2021/12/02/94fa9cda-53a8-11ec-9267-17ae3bde2f26_story.html

The Supreme Court, in all likelihood, is about to reset the key parameter that has governed abortions. In that case, the pro-life campaign’s victory would be a shot in the arm for the conservatives that are fighting ‘culture wars’: https://www.npr.org/2021/12/02/1061015753/abortion-roe-v-wade-trigger-laws-mississippi-jacksons-womens-health-organization

Also read:

https://www.history.com/topics/womens-rights/roe-v-wade

https://theconversation.com/roe-v-wade-gave-american-women-a-choice-about-having-children-heres-how-that-changed-their-lives-161148