Mississippi has asked the US Supreme Court to repeal the federal right to abortion in the United States, in a court document filed Thursday, July 22.
The Supreme Court already agreed in May to consider a state law banning most abortions from the fifteenth week of pregnancy, even in cases of rape or incest.
As part of the proceedings, which the highest American court is due to consider in the fall for a decision in mid-2022, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said Thursday that the judgments establishing the right to abortion were “Shockingly wrong”.
Abortion allowed up to 22 weeks
“This court should cancel Roe and Casey”, the two decisions taken respectively in 1973 and 1992, wrote the prosecutor, ruling that “The conclusion that abortion is a constitutional right has no basis”.
“The national fever on abortion can break only when this Court returns abortion policy to the States – where agreem… https://t.co/DELWtvPGW4
A petition ruled “Mind-boggling” by Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights association, which defends the right to abortion. “Their goal is for the Supreme Court to take away our right to control our own bodies and our future.” – not just in Mississippi, but everywhere ”, she hammered in a statement.
Usually, the Supreme Court refuses in the vast majority of cases to consider appeals challenging its judgment in Roe v. Wade, by which she recognized in 1973 a constitutional right to abortion, later specifying that women could abort as long as the fetus is “Not viable”, which corresponds to approximately 22 weeks of pregnancy.
Three out of nine progressive magistrates
But she agreed to take up this law of the State of Mississippi, yet blocked by the courts at first instance and then on appeal, suggesting that it could influence its previous decisions. The court’s political balance shifted sharply to the conservative side after the appointment of three judges during Donald Trump’s tenure, leaving only three out of nine progressive magistrates.
According to experts, it is likely that the high court will not completely invalidate the Roe v. Wade, but diminishes its scope by providing more and more latitude to states to prohibit voluntary terminations of pregnancy, which risks increasing territorial disparities in the country.