A case that could potentially pose a very serious challenge to the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling is set to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1, the court announced Monday.
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Org out of Mississippi is the case that will bring some hard-line arguments before the nation's high court potentially changing the course of one of the nation's most pivotal women's health laws.
A key question that will come before the court: Are all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortion unconstitutional?
Currently in the state of Mississippi, as NPR reported, most abortions are banned after 15 weeks "significantly before fetal viability." The case was brought to the Supreme Court after a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel blocked enforcement of the law citing a conflict with Roe v. Wade, along with abortion rulings that followed that landmark decision. The panel has been labeled one of the most conservative in the United States.
The arguments for the Mississippi case will be part of the docket of cases heard amid the court's October, November and December in person sittings as the justices return to work, and mark an end to their most recent stint working remotely as the country fights the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier this month the Supreme Court said it would not block a Texas law that bans most abortions, deciding to leave the most restrictive abortion measure in the United States in place.