The Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments in a case involving a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of gestation.
Mississippi is asking the judges to uphold the injunction and overturn Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). The state called those landmark decisions “hopefully impossible” in legal briefs.
Arguments are expected to last for 70 minutes, but if there is precedent, the court will extend it by an extra hour.
Here are the key elements of today’s debate and how the event is expected to unfold:
At 10 a.m. ET, Mississippi Attorney General, Scott G. Stewart – who used to be a law clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas in 2015 – will be on the podium and his former boss will probably ask the first question.
Thomas – who was mostly silent on the bench for many years – already a vocal participant oral argument this semester after the Court changed the format of the hearing.
Thomas has repeatedly urged the court to overturn Roe v. Wade, saying there is no constitutional right to abortion. Earlier this year, he was praised by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, for his stance on “unborn life.”
When the judges agreed to hear the Mississippi case last May after months of closed-door deliberation, the question they agreed to decide was whether “all viable bans on elective abortions are unconstitutional.” or not.”
But when Mississippi filed its opening brief, it went so far as to ask the judges to overturn Roe and Casey. Some judges may see it as bait and force them to tackle a much larger question. Clock Chief Justice John Roberts Who may express institutional concerns with overturning a decision from a long time ago.
All eyes will be on Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Whose vote? potentially serious cases. The court now includes three of President Trump’s former nominees, Trump recalls swear to appoint Judge “pro-life”.
After Stewart finished, Julie Rikelman, The Director of Litigation at the Center for Reproductive Rights, representing the Jackson Women’s Health Foundation, the only licensed abortion facility in Mississippi, will be next. She is arguing on behalf of the Jackson Women’s Health Foundation, the last abortion clinic in the state. In March 2020, Rikelman won the Louisiana abortion law repeal case when Roberts sided with the liberals in court.
Today, Rikelman would argue strongly that the court should “reject the invitation to annul” the half-century precedent. In her summary, she emphasized the fact that many of Mississippi’s current arguments were rejected by a court 30 years ago in Casey.
After Rikelman, Attorney General Elizabeth B. Foreword, a former secretary to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Elena Kagan, will assist the clinic. Prelogar, the Biden administration’s top lawyer before the Supreme Court, said in legal papers that overturning Roe and Casey would “be a profound disruption.” Prelogar urged the judges to consider what would happen if the judges decided to return the matter to the states.
Because Mississippi presents a challenge, Stewart will have a chance to return to the podium. He will likely reiterate his main point: “Under Roe and Casey The Justice Department cuts state law after state law, year after year, on an important policy issue,” he argued in brief. “It is dangerously corrosive to our constitutional system,” he wrote.
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