The main session of the US Supreme Court on abortion law

The future of abortion law is in jeopardy in the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, which has been radically overhauled under President Donald Trump. The court is hearing a bill from the state of Mississippi. This verdict could go back fifty years in abortion.

Nine judges, including six conservatives, will deal with the 2018 Mississippi Bill from 10 a.m. local time (4 p.m. in Belgium). The draft prohibits abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. A verdict is expected in the spring.

Nevertheless, the bill violates the legal framework of the Supreme Court, ruling in favor of other laws passed in recent years. But by agreeing to hear the law, the court sent a signal that it was ready to reconsider the structure.

For this we have to go back to 1973. Important Roe v. In the Wade ruling, it ruled that women have the constitutional right to abortion and that state governments cannot deny it. In 1992 the court clarified that this applies as long as the fetus is “functional” at 22 to 24 weeks.

Federal courts, taking into account that lawsuit, blocked it before the Mississippi Act came into force. Those in charge of the most rural and religious state then went to the Supreme Court.

When the Supreme Court accepted the appeal, it explained that although it was not compelled to do so, it was willing to live up to the “performance” line. But today Mississippi goes even further and calls for the complete repeal of the 1973 ruling.

“We know the impact of our request,” State Attorney General Lynn Fitz said in a post in the Washington Post. “But 49 years ago, the court rejected the political intuition of firm legal rationality to reach a constitutionally unfounded conclusion. It is time to correct that mistake.”

Like the Catholic Church and many anti-abortion organizations, all sections of the Republican Party have already expressed their support. Millions of dollars have been spent on advertising campaigns for the session. “We are about to enter a new era in which the Supreme Court will reverse the Row v. Wade ruling,” said former Vice President Mike Pence, a staunch conservative Christian. .

Former President Donald Trump has appointed three conservative judges to the court. This strengthened the conservative majority. Their influence was already felt on September 1, when the court refused in practical terms to prevent the enactment of an abortion law in Texas. It prohibits abortion from six weeks of pregnancy. The case is being re-opened, but no final decision has been made. Many Texans therefore have to move to another state for abortion.

(Belgium)