The Mississippi Abortion Case
Today the SCOTUS announced that it would take up the case involving Mississippi's law that restricts--effectively bans--abortions after 15 weeks of gestation. There doesn't seem much point in me speculating on the outcome, although informed speculation suggests the law will be upheld. Streiff at Red State covers it in some depth: Supreme Court Accepts a Mississippi Abortion Case That Seems Likely to Overturn Planned Parenthood vs. Casey . What you need to know about this case is contained in this brief excerpt:
This could very well be the most important abortion decision of the past 10 or so years because even though Mississippi’s appeal included three questions :
(1) Whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional; (2) whether the validity of a pre-viability law that protects women’s health, the dignity of unborn children and the integrity of the medical profession and society should be analyzed under Planned Parenthood v. Casey ‘s “undue burden” standard or Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt ‘s balancing of benefits and burdens; and (3) whether abortion providers have third-party standing to invalidate a law that protects women’s health from the dangers of late-term abortions.
the Supreme Court is only going to hear arguments on issue #1. This is not an argument over procedure; it is a question that will frame the abortion debate in the future. If the Court agrees with Mississippi, then the door is open for those states that wish to regulate all abortions. If the abortion industry wins, then all “pre-viable” babies can be killed without mercy. As Jeanne Mancini of March for Life observes, “the United States is one of only seven countries – including China and North Korea – that allows abortions through all nine months of pregnancy . An overwhelming majority of Americans agree that this goes way too far, in fact 70% think abortion should be limited to – at most – the first three months of pregnancy.”