The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider a massive rollback of abortion rights when it discusses the Mississippi appeal on a 15-week abortion ban.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday decided to determine if states can prohibit abortions beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy. The decision came about from the test case from Mississippi, which bans most abortions after 15 weeks, before fetal viability. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the enforcement of the law, which they believe conflicted with Roe v. Wade. The appeal from Mississippi has been awaiting disposition since last fall when it landed in the court's docket.
According to NPR, the Mississippi case was finally listed on the weekly conference for discussion on Monday after it was listed 17 times. Mississippi's law is just one of the many abortion laws that conservative states have passed in the last couple of years. It was signed by then-Gov. Phil Bryant and was designed to protect the unborn child and the mother's health. However, the measure was blocked by U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves.
Judge Reeves believed that the Mississipi 15-week abortion ban was unconstitutional as it prevents access to abortion before the unborn child can even survive outside of a woman's body, CBN News reported. The judge also blocked another 2019 measure that bans most abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected at about six weeks into a pregnancy. Now that the Supreme Court has a majority of conservative justices however, pro-life advocates believe that they can finally overturn Roe v. Wade.
Alliance Defending Freedom's Kristen Waggoner took to Twitter to share her thoughts on the Supreme Court's decision to consider whether states can ban abortions after 15 weeks and its implications on the pro-life cause.
"Today the Supreme Court agreed to hear a major abortion case. Every human life is valuable," Waggoner wrote. "And the majority of Americans support commonsense laws like Mississippi's, which protects unborn children and their mothers. We're hopeful the Supreme Court will agree."
Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma expressed his support for the pro-life movement as well, taking to Twitter to write, "This is a huge step forward in the work that has been done over decades to protect the life of every child starting in the womb. I hope you'll join me in praying for the outcome that respects every human life. #ProLife"
The Susan B. Anthony List expressed how the review of the Mississippi 15-week abortion ban is a "landmark opportunity" for the U.S. Supreme Court and that they ultimately decide to "recognize the right of states to protect unborn children from the horrors of painful late-term abortions."
The fight isn't over just yet, however, as White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reiterated pro-abortion President Joe Biden's commitment to uphold codifying Roe v. Wade no matter what the U.S. Supreme Court decides on the Mississippi case, CBS News reported.. Psaki said that health care rights have been "under withering and extreme attack" by "draconian state laws" such as that imposed by conservative states that wish to eliminate abortion altogether.
