The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing the constitutionality of a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
By Nathan Brown | Arizona Capitol Times
Supporters and opponents of legal abortion are bracing themselves for a court ruling next year that could give Arizona lawmakers far more power to regulate or ban abortion.
The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing the constitutionality of a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which goes against the standard set in the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that generally prohibits states from banning abortion during the first two trimesters of pregnancy, about 24 weeks.
The court is expected to rule in June. While opinions differ as to whether the justices will overturn Roe entirely or issue a more narrowly tailored ruling, observers on both sides of the issue expect a ruling that will give states more power to regulate abortion.
Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, said. “As an attorney, I know to not ever predict what courts will do, but the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court, at a minimum, will uphold Mississippi’s law … is very high. The question (is) whether the court will go so far as to turn the decision on abortion regulation up to the states.”
The center, perhaps Arizona’s most influential socially conservative lobbying group, has worked on numerous abortion restrictions that have passed in Arizona over the years. Herrod hopes the court overrules both Roe and the 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey that upheld and expanded on Roe.
