The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in the most important case on abortion rights in three decades. And by the direction of the comments and questions, the court could be headed toward a major, if misguided and dangerous, scaling back of constitutional protections under Roe vs. Wade.
The state of Mississippi is asking the Supreme Court to either overturn the landmark 1973 ruling on abortion or allow states to pass pre-viability abortion bans. On Wednesday, conservative justices seemed to be looking for ways to scale back those rights without making it seem political.
What would be wrong with a 15-week ban on abortion, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked Julie Rikelman of the Center for Reproductive Rights, representing the sole abortion clinic in Mississippi. “Why is 15 weeks not enough time?”
Justice Amy Coney Barrett wanted to know why the existence of safe haven laws that allow women to relinquish their newborn babies without questions wasn’t enough protection for women who would be burdened by parenthood.
As abortion rights advocates have pointed out time and again, 15 weeks is not enough time if you’re poor and you’ve been trying to get the money together to afford an abortion. It’s not enough time to know if a fetus has severe health problems or the pregnancy is endangering the life of the mother. And a safe haven law is not a substitute for a woman losing her right to control her body and forcing her to bear a child.