Andrew Chung and Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court will consider Wednesday whether it should repeal abortion rights in America. It is weighing Mississippi’s attempt to reverse the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made the procedure legal across the country.

A conservative court with a majority of 6-3 judges is expected to listen to at least 70 minutes worth of oral arguments starting at 10:05 a.m. ET (1500 GMT). The appeal by the Southern State to rescind its ban prohibiting abortion starting at 15 weeks gestation. The Republican-backed law was blocked by lower courts.

Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the only abortion clinic in Mississippi https://www.reuters.com/world/us/lone-mississippi-clinic-front-line-us-supreme-court-abortion-battle-2021-11-29, challenged the law and has the support of Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration. The ruling will be made by June 30th.

Roe v. Wade acknowledged that a woman has the right to privacy under the U.S. Constitution to end her pregnancy. In Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania (Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania) v. Casey, 1992 the Supreme Court confirmed abortion rights. They also banned laws that imposed an “undue hardship” on access to abortion.

Advocates for abortion believe that they are now closer to overturning Roe. This has been a goal of Christian conservatives since the beginning.

The Mississippi law is just one in a string of recent restrictive abortion laws that have been passed by Republican-ruled states. The Supreme Court on Nov. 1 heard arguments over a Texas law banning abortion https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-court-hears-challenges-texas-near-total-abortion-ban-2021-11-01 at around six weeks of pregnancy but has not yet issued a ruling.

VIABILITY IN FETAL FEEDING

Roe and Casey ruled that states can’t ban abortions before the foetus is viable outside of the womb. Doctors generally consider this to be between 24 and 28 week.

Mississippi’s ban of 15 weeks directly challenged this finding. Although Roe is not overturned by the court, any decision allowing states to ban abortions before the time of fetal viability outside of the womb raises questions about the timing in which states can prohibit this procedure. Roe was ruled by the Court in 1992 Casey. It stated that the “central holding” of Roe was that viability was at the beginning of states’ ability to ban abortion.

Lynn Fitch is a Republican and Mississippi Attorney General. She has asked the court not to uphold Roe. Lynn Fitch says the justices may still be able to enforce its law by finding that an 15-week ban doesn’t impose an undue load. This ruling would eliminate the Roe/Casey viability standard, so the justices would need to decide where the line should be drawn.

Advocates for abortion rights claim that such a decision will eliminate Roe and make it simpler for conservative states, which would allow them to place strict restrictions on abortion.

Mississippi is among 12 states with so-called trigger laws designed to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Other states could also move fast to restrict abortion access. (See related graphic https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-COURT/ABORTION/jnpweaglgpw/abortion-map.jpg)

If Roe were overturned or limited, large swathes of America could return to an era https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-court-case-past-could-be-future-abortion-2021-11-23 in which women who want to end a pregnancy face the choice of undergoing a potentially dangerous illegal abortion, traveling long distances to a state where the procedure remains legal and available or buying abortion pills online. It would be legal in 15 liberal-leaning state, which all have abortion rights laws.

As in other countries, abortion remains controversial in the United States. According to a June Reuters/Ipsos Poll, 52% believed abortion should become legal in all or most of the cases. 36% thought it should not be allowed in any or all cases.

The arguments on Wednesday could give insight as to whether the five required votes are available among six conservative justices in order for Roe to be overturned.

Trump’s former Republican president, Donald Trump, named three Supreme Court justices. His third appointee, Amy Coney Barrett https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-barrett-vote/trump-remakes-supreme-court-as-senate-confirms-amy-coney-barrett-idUSKBN27C00H, last year replaced the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an abortion-rights defender. Barrett, known for an anti-abortion stance https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-barrett/trumps-supreme-court-nominee-advocated-overturning-legalized-abortion-idUSKBN26M7J1 before becoming a judge, has not yet participated in a major abortion ruling.

Trump’s other appointees, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, dissented in the court’s 5-4 ruling https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-abortion/in-major-ruling-u-s-supreme-court-strikes-down-strict-louisiana-abortion-law-idUSKBN2401WI in 2020 striking down Louisiana’s law imposing restrictions on abortion doctors.

The Jackson clinic filed suit to stop Mississippi’s law. A federal judge in 2018 ruled against Mississippi, citing Roe. New Orleans’ 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, 2019 came to the same conclusion.