NEW YORK – One of the most restrictive laws in America against the right of abortion arrives at the Supreme Court: the one passed by Mississippi in 2018 where it was forbidden to interrupt the pregnancy after 15 weeks even in the case of rape or incest, then blocked by a local judge. And pro-Choice activists are already shaking. Fearing that the decision of the High Court with a conservative majority will end up being dismantled Roe vs Wade: the law passed in 1973, which is still the foundation of every law on the subject today. The lawsuit filed in 1970 by Norma McCovery – known in the law books under the conventional name of Jane Roe – versus Henry Wade, the attorney general who at the time prevented her from having an abortion, forcing her to give birth to her third child, immediately given up for adoption like the previous two. That sensational case made jurisprudence, of course. And now that sentence cited continuously, risks returning to the center of the political debate: attacked by the more extremist and religious right, all the more so now that many states have increasingly restricted the right, even using the Covid emergency for this purpose.
The case of Mississippi will in fact be the first to be examined by the Supreme Court since, last October – and a few days before the elections – Donald Trump called the ultra conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace the champion of women Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a true progressive icon. This will be followed by a second burning case, where the abortion law passed in Kentucky will be discussed. Here the judges will focus on procedural issues, of course: but no less important.
Opponents of these restrictive norms have long defined them as unconstitutional: that is, in contrast with the precedents where the right of choice of pregnant women is established. And for this they fear the conclusions on the matter that will take the current nine judges in office: six conservatives (three of which nominated by Trump) and only three Democrats. The risk is in fact that of creating a precedent, with wide repercussions on generations to come.
In the past the Court had already ruled on another similar law, regarding another restrictive rule studied in Louisiana. It was blocked by the vote of five judges: including that of the President of the Court, John Roberts (Republican appointed by George Bush and famous for his bipartisan positions) who sided with the liberals. But at the time he still sat on the benches Bader Ginsburg.
The Mississippi case will be evaluated in October. The final decision will therefore probably be announced in March 2022. And unless there are new entries among the judges of the Court (or in the case of the resignation or death of one of the conservative togates) or the enlargement of the same – a complicated eventuality but of which argues – restrictions are given for certain. In short, the issue already risks becoming crucial in the MidTerm campaign, the Mid-Term elections for the renewal of the Chamber and Senate, in November 2022.
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