The Supreme Court on Monday, May 17, 2021, agreed to hear arguments in a major abortion case from Mississippi that could roll back limits on abortion restrictions included in the landmark reproductive rights case Roe v. Wade.
The case will be the first major abortion dispute to test all three of former President Donald Trump’s three appointees to the top court, including its newest member, Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
The top court announced that it will hear the dispute, Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 19-1392, in an order. The court will hear the case in its term beginning in October and a decision is likely to come by June of 2022.
The case concerns a Mississippi abortion law passed in 2018 that bars abortions after 15 weeks with limited exceptions. The law was blocked by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Under existing Supreme Court precedent, states may not ban abortions that occur prior to fetal viability.
