A placard saying, Abortion is a Human Right, is seen during the “Stop The Bans Day of Action for Abortion Rights” rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC.
Michael Brochstein | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty Images
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Dec. 1 in a case that threatens to overturn the decades-old abortion protections established under Roe v. Wade.
The case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, takes aim at the Supreme Court precedent barring states from banning abortions prior to a fetus becoming viable, or capable of living outside the womb.
It centers on a 2018 law in Mississippi that bans most abortions after 15 weeks, a cutoff that is significantly earlier than the general fetal viability standard of around 22 weeks. The law was blocked by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
The case will be heard by a high court that grew sharply more conservative under Republican former President Donald Trump, who appointed three justices to the nine-seat bench.
Last month, all three of Trump’s appointees — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — voted against a request to stop a highly restrictive abortion law in Texas from taking effect.
The Texas law bars most abortions after six weeks. The 5-4 majority, which ruled without hearing oral arguments, declined to block the law on procedural grounds.
The Supreme Court agreed in mid-May to hear arguments over Mississippi’s abortion law after the next term begins in October.
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