The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hand down its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the only abortion provider in Mississippi.
Opponents of Mississippi’s law, that if upheld would ban almost all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, claim that the 1973 Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade and the decision the Court rendered in 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey both negate the Mississippi law because both are landmark rulings.
The right to choose is a term that means that a woman has a right to have a legal abortion if she chooses to.
Roe v. Wade was decided via a 7-2 decision by the Supreme Court on Jan. 22, 1973, ruling that women have the fundamental right to have a legal abortion.
Opponents of abortion are known for being pro-life, and they advocate for women to give birth and allow their children to be adopted should they not wish to keep them.
Those who work to get the Supreme Court to reverse its Roe v. Wade decision point out that an unborn child, embryo or fetus, has no voice and suffers and dies while many wait to adopt children.
They claim that abortion is the immoral killing of a human.
Proponents, on the other hand, point to the suffering that children living in poverty must endure and that no other person has the right to decide for a woman whether to have a legal abortion or not. In other words, a woman is in charge of her own body.
Those who petition the Court argue that Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey should be overturned while those who side with Planned Parenthood continue to voice their opinion that any law restricting abortions should not bring about an “undue burden” on a pregnant woman.
The Mississippi case represents the Pro-life Movement’s most direct challenge in the past three decades, and the Supreme Court now has three conservative Justices that were appointed by President Donald J. Trump who have joined three other conservatives on the Court. With a 6-3 majority on the Court, those who are pro-life have high hopes a favorable ruling will aid their cause. Those who advocate for abortion to remain a woman’s choice worry that the Mississippi case may not be decided in their favor.
The petitioners, Mississippi state health officials, are Thomas Dobbs and Kenneth Cleveland.
They claim that the U.S. Constitution does not support the right to abortion.
While an eagle’s egg is protected by federal law, those who are pro-life point to the heavy federal fine that comes from destroying an eagle’s egg while millions of the unborn never were allowed to draw their first breath because of Roe v. Wade.
Eagles are no longer an endangered species in the U.S., but the Eagle Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Lacey Act all are still in effect. One who is convicted of destroying a bald eagle’s egg can be incarcerated for up to two years in prison and fined up to $250,000.
One of the most divisive issues in modern times, the tilting point has both sides on edge, especially in light of the 6-3 edge conservatives now have on the Court.
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