U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Major Abortion Case that Could Impact Roe v. Wade

On May 17, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will hear oral arguments in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Shortly after a 2018 Mississippi law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy was signed into law, a federal judge blocked it from taking effect when the state's only abortion clinic filed suit. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld the block on the law saying its pre-viability restriction on elective abortions was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court will now take up the case during its next term that opens in October. A decision by the high court is expected by June 2022 and could, for the first time since 1973, greatly diminish the ruling in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion.