Mississippi’s Attorney General Requests the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade

Mississippi’s Attorney General Lynn Fitch has requested that the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. Fitch argued that the bill was ‘egregiously wrong’ and urged the justices to allow a controversial law that bars most abortions after 15 weeks to go into effect. During a news brief, Fitch told justices that “the conclusion that abortion is a constitutional right has no basis in text, structure, history, or tradition.” Fitch also added the case for overruling Roe is ‘overwhelming’.

Roe v. Wade is the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion nationwide prior to viability, which can occur at around 24 weeks of pregnancy. The justices deliberated for months whether to take up the Mississippi dispute and announced their decision last spring. That decision shocked groups supporting abortion rights who are fearful that the conservative majority will upend long-established constitutional protections for access to abortion. Arguments will likely be heard in late fall or early winter and the decision is expected by next June before the midterm elections.