The build-up to the weeks arguments with an all new makeup of the court, Wednesday’s Supreme Court hearing on abortion signaled that something big may be on the horizon when it comes to one of the most divisive issues in America for nearly half a century.
The Mississippi abortion law that is now being considered by the US Supreme Court would have major implication on Roe v Wade, and also lower the viability threshold for abortion from the current 24 weeks of gestation to 15 weeks. Six weeks — the point at which a so-called “fetal heart beat” can be detected — has become increasingly popular in pro-life legislation.
If the arguments by the justices are an indication, the build-up was not just hype. The conservative majority on the court appears inclined to let states not just ban abortions earlier in pregnancy but perhaps ban them outright.
It is exactly what pro-life proponents were hoping might happen after former President Donald Trump carried through on a campaign promise to appoint justices to the nation’s highest court who would be open to overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion on demand nationwide.
Although the overturn of Roe does not immediately make abortion illegal across the United States, it merely gives each individual state the option to make their own rules and requirements to partake in the procedure.
