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Justices signal they may toss Roe, allow new abortion limits
The Supreme Court’s six conservative justices have indicated they will uphold a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Politics
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court's six conservative justices, hearing the biggest challenge to abortion rights in decades, have indicated they will uphold a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The conservative majority on the nine-member court on Wednesday signaled it would allow states to ban abortion much earlier in pregnancy and may even overturn the nationwide right that has existed for nearly 50 years.
With hundreds of demonstrators outside chanting for and against, the justices led arguments that could decide the fate of the court's historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion throughout the United States and its 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which reaffirmed Roe.
The outcome probably won't be known until next June. But after nearly two hours of arguments, the six conservative justices, including three appointed by former President Donald Trump, indicated they'd uphold Mississippi's law. At the very least, such a decision would undermine Roe and Casey, which allow states to regulate but not ban abortion up until the point of fetal viability, at roughly 24 weeks.