There's a strong likelihood that the Supreme Court's six conservative justices would uphold the Mississippi law, a signal that would empower states to outlaw abortions even earlier in pregnancy, possibly overturning a federal norm that has lasted for over 50 years.
As previously reported by Charisma News and other news outlets, Mississippi has enacted a bill that prohibits abortions beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy.
After President Donald Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, the Supreme Court now has a 6-3 conservative majority. And because six of the nine justices on the court are allegedly conservative, this win is quite likely.
After almost two hours of deliberation on Wednesday, the six conservative justices, including three selected by former President Trump, hinted that Mississippi's law will be upheld. Roe and Casey enable states to limit but not prohibit abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, at which time the fetus is no longer viable, Charisma noted.
A few snippets from the Justices' discourse
Trump appointee Justice Kavanaugh wondered whether the Supreme Court should stay out of the abortion controversy and allow states to make their own decisions.
"Why should this court be the arbiter rather than Congress, the state legislatures, state supreme courts, the people being able to resolve this? And there will be different answers in Mississippi and New York, different answers in Alabama than California," he was quoted as saying.
Chief Justice John Roberts, on the other hand, looked to want a less far-reaching decision that would preserve Mississippi's law but without expressly overruling Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
"That may be what they're asking for, but the thing at issue before us today is 15 weeks," Roberts remarked, referencing specifically to Mississippi's plea to overturn the larger rulings as well as maintain its own legislation.
But according to Justice Gorsuch, there is a possibility that the absence of a robust alternative to Roe and Casey might justify overruling them completely.
Gorsuch also reportedly questioned Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, the Biden administration lawyer who is assisting the Mississippi clinic with its legal defense.
"You emphasized that if 15 weeks were approved, then we'd have cases about 12 and 10 and 8 and 6, and so my question is, is there a line in there that the government believes would be principled or not," he asked.
"I don't think there's any line that could be more principled than viability," Prelogar replied.
The justices reportedly appeared on the bench at 10 o'clock without a grin or a joke, maybe in acknowledgement of the seriousness of the matter at hand.
The opinions and votes of all nine justices on the abortion issue can be read here.
While deliberation was ongoing, hundreds of demonstrators gathered on the plaza outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday, chanting in support of and against the court's decision, the Associated Press reported.
The pro-abortion chant "Whose choice? My choice!" was reportedly opposed with "Hey hey, ho ho, Roe v. Wade has got to go."
