Supreme Court to Review Challenge to Mississippi Law Banning Abortions

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a challenge to a Mississippi law that bans abortions for pregnancies after 15 weeks.

The Supreme Court issued an order Monday morning approving a writ of certiorari in the case of Thomas Dobbs, et. al. v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. That means the Supreme Court agreed to review a lower court’s decision to block the anti-abortion law.

Pro-life advocates are hailing this as an opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade, allowing states to ban abortions before the viability of a pregnancy.

The Mississippi law bans abortions (in most cases) after 15 weeks of pregnancy. This is not an outright ban on abortion, or even a “heartbeat” bill, which would ban abortions for pregnancies after approximately six weeks. As such, this law does not go far enough to protect the lives of all unborn children in Mississippi, but it is a start.

If the Mississippi law is upheld by the Supreme Court, it will set a new precedent allowing states to enact abortion bans before a pregnancy is considered “viable.” This would be a huge step in protecting the lives of the unborn across the country.

Before the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court would likely have voted to strike down the Mississippi law. Now, Ginsburg’s replacement, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, has the opportunity to tip the scales in favor of protecting the lives of the unborn.

Barrett is one of the strongest pro-life judges now sitting on the Supreme Court. She joins Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Neil Gorsuch as the third pro-life nominee appointed to the Supreme Court by President Donald Trump.

Gorsuch and Kavanaugh both voted in dissent in a decision to strike down a Louisiana pro-life law that would have led to the closure of two abortion clinics in the state. Chief Justice John Roberts, who tends to flip-flop on pro-life decisions, joined Ginsburg and the other liberal justices in striking down the measure.

The appointment of Barrett in 2020 flips the majority on the Supreme Court to a pro-life consensus, even if Roberts sides with anti-life justices in this decision. Assuming those lines hold, this is the best opportunity since Roe for the Supreme Court to uphold pro-life legislation.

A decision in favor of the Mississippi law would undoubtedly lead to a slew of pro-life legislation across the country. Over 500 pro-life bills were filed in 2021, and over 60 were enacted across the country, according to The Christian Post.