Washington D.C., May 24, 2021 / 13:20 pm
Democratic senators have argued that overturning or otherwise limiting Roe v. Wade would pave the way to change the size or structure of the high court, The Hill reported Monday.
The Supreme Court agreed last week to take up the case of Jackson Women’s Health Organization v. Dobbs, which concerns a Mississippi state law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The court indicated it will consider one question in the case: “Whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional?”
The legal question, as well as the court’s decision to take up the case, has prompted speculation that the justices could re-consider the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
In Roe, justices ruled that states could not outright ban abortion before viability, but they could regulate abortion in the second trimester of pregnancy. In its 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, the court ruled that states could also regulate abortion pre-viability, but they may not place an “undue burden” on women seeking to undergo an abortion.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told The Hill that if the court were to overturn or undercut Roe, it “will inevitably fuel and drive an effort to expand the Supreme Court if this activist majority betrays fundamental constitutional principles.”
“It’s already driving that movement,” Blumenthal added.
Pro-life groups, such as the Susan B. Anthony List, have warned that if a Democratic president were to add to the number of justices at the Supreme Court, the court could further enshrine its pro-abortion jurisprudence in future abortion cases.
Tom McClusky, president of March for Life Action, told CNA in an email that the threat of court-packing “is blatant intimidation against sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justices and shows that when they don’t like the facts, they try to change the rules.”
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