(RepublicanReport.org) – This week, the US Supreme Court began hearing a potentially historic Mississippi abortion case. The state wants to impose a law banning terminations after 15 weeks of pregnancy, nine weeks earlier than the limit set in the 1973 case of Roe v. Wade. If the nation’s highest court decides to let the law stand, Conservative states could end up with much more freedom to restrict abortion within their borders.
Justice Clarence Thomas, a Conservative appointee who famously prefers to stay silent during proceedings in the Supreme Court, asked several questions during oral arguments on Wednesday. At one point, he asked Julie Rikelman of the Center for Reproductive Rights, “what constitutional right protects the right to abortion” using privacy and autonomy as potential examples. Rikelman responded the right to “liberty” was the applicable one.
Justice Clarence Thomas asked if there's a constitutional right to abortion, saying it's not spelled out the way the Second Amendment is.
"It's liberty, your honor," Julie Rikelman, the litigation director at the Center for Reproductive Rights, replied.https://t.co/SfiUn06cz1 pic.twitter.com/VBhFTUALjI
— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 1, 2021
Justice Brett Kavanaugh was critical of the idea the Supreme Court should have to make decisions like this about abortion at all, opining it was the job of legislative bodies at the federal and state levels. Kavanaugh also noted it was within the court’s purview to overturn SCOTUS precedent, as it had done so in other major cases. Chief Justice John Roberts pointed out the fetal viability standard, as protected by Roe v. Wade, is the same standard used in Chinese and North Korean law around abortion.
SCOTUS will likely rule on the case sometime in 2022.
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