The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case involving a challenge to a Mississippi law prohibiting most abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy, a move that could weaken abortion rights nationwide.
The case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, revolves around a Mississippi law passed in 2018 that bans all abortions after 15 weeks “except in a medical emergency or in the case of a severe fetal abnormality.” The ban was blocked by lower courts who argued it violated previous Supreme Court rulings.
The case centers on whether states are permitted to ban abortions before a fetus can survive outside the womb. It is seen as a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, a landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalised abortion nationwide.