Roe v. Wade is solid constitutional law. The U.S. Supreme Court will overturn it anyway

BY ERWIN CHEMERINSKY, SPECIAL TO THE SACRAMENTO BEE

JUNE 12, 2021

I expect in about a year that the Supreme Court will overrule Roe v. Wade and
end constitutional protection of abortion rights.

On May 17, the Court granted review in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health
Organization, which concerns a Mississippi law that prohibits abortions after
the fifteenth week of pregnancy. In light of the current composition of the
Supreme Court, there are five and maybe six votes to overrule Roe and allow
states to prohibit all or virtually all abortions. The case will be argued in
Fall 2021 and likely decided in June 2022.

Continued: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article251699748.html

How the Anti-Abortion Movement Used the Progressive Playbook to Chip Away at Roe v. Wade

Mary Ziegler and Robert L. Tsai
Sat, June 12, 2021

The Supreme Court captured its biggest headlines last month not for a decision, but for a case it agreed to review next year: Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The case turns on a 2018 Mississippi law banning abortion at 15 weeks, but its impact will likely reach well beyond one state. To uphold Mississippi’s law—which the Court’s conservative majority is expected to do—the Court will have to undo all or part of Roe v. Wade.

Such a sweeping decision might seem like an opportunistic swipe at abortion rights, a conservative court suddenly reversing 50 years of precedent with a single move. But if the Court does rule that way, the story behind it will be far more complex and important to understand. The attack on Roe has been decades in the making—and its successes owe not just to the strength of the conservative anti-abortion movement, but to the progressive playbook that achieved breakthroughs on civil rights, gay marriage and even abortion.

Continued: https://news.yahoo.com/anti-abortion-movement-used-progressive-060015339.html

State abortion policies have become more extreme — without Roe v. Wade, the divide could widen

If the Supreme Court overturns the 1973 precedent, the legality of abortion will be left to individual states. Many have already made their intentions clear.

By Daniela Santamariña
June 11, 2021

In May, the Supreme Court decided to review a restrictive Mississippi abortion law that provides a clear path to overturn or diminish Roe v. Wade. The justices will hear the case in October and are likely to deliver a decision in the first half of next year.

A few days after the court’s announcement, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill banning abortions the moment a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. Together, these laws are the latest in a long line of challenges to abortion rights in the United States.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/11/abortion-rights-roe-v-wade/

Democrats reintroduce legislation to protect abortion access around the country

The Women’s Health Protection Act was first introduced in 2013 and has been reintroduced in every congressional session since.

June 8, 2021

By Chloe Atkins

Congressional Democrats reintroduced legislation on Tuesday that would protect
abortion access around the country, even if Roe v. Wade were weakened or
overturned.

The Women’s Health Protection Act, if passed, would guarantee the right for
health care professionals to provide abortion care and their patients to
receive care, without restrictions and bans that impede access.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/democrats-reintroduce-legislation-protect-abortion-access-around-country-n1270009

08.06.2021

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California moves to make abortion cheaper, as other states work to restrict it

By RACHEL BLUTH, KAISER HEALTH NEWS
JUNE 7, 2021

SACRAMENTO — Even as most states are trying to make it harder to get an abortion, California could make it free for more people.

State lawmakers are debating a bill to eliminate out-of-pocket expenses such as co-pays and payments toward deductibles for abortions and related services, including counseling. The measure, approved by the Senate and headed to the Assembly, would apply to most private health plans regulated by the state.

Continued: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-07/california-to-make-abortion-cheaper-unlike-many-states

USA – The Stigma of “Late-Term Abortions” Is the Point

“It’s just normal folks who end up getting pushed back and pushed back and pushed back.”

JUNE 3, 2021
BECCA ANDREWS

When the Supreme Court decided recently to consider Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, Marjorie Dannenfelser from Susan B. Anthony List said: “This is a landmark opportunity for the Supreme Court to recognize the right of states to protect unborn children from the horrors of painful late-term abortions.”

Dannenfelser’s choice to invoke “late-term abortions” was pointed. Typically, the phrase refers to abortions performed after 21 weeks, but I’ve seen anti-abortion advocates in particular use “late term” in reference to abortions anywhere after 15 weeks. Crucially, there is no real definition or medical designation for what constitutes a late-term abortion, so it’s used somewhat haphazardly. Medical experts also criticize the term for implying that abortions are taking place after a pregnancy reaches “term” at 37 weeks—which does not happen—or a point in pregnancy referred to by obstetricians as “late term,” up to 41 weeks—which also does not happen.

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/06/definition-late-term-abortions-mississippi-15-week-ban-supreme-court/

Abortion in a Post-Roe World? “People Are Resilient and Resourceful”

Thanks to new medications and innovative organizations committed to reproductive health and bodily self-determination, a reversal of Roe v. Wade would not send us back to the pre-Roe world of coat hangers and hospital wards full of deathly ill women.

6/3/2021
by CARRIE N. BAKER, Ms. Magazine

The day after the Supreme Court announced they would hear the Mississippi abortion ban case, internet searches related to self-managed abortion surged across the United States—especially in states hostile to abortion rights. Online searches for terms related to abortion pills such as “misoprostol” and “medical abortion” exploded by more than 5,000 percent in the 24 hours after the court’s announcement.

“We see a definite spike in visitors to our website when there is news about abortion bans,” said Elisa Wells, co-founder and co-director of Plan C Pills, which provides up-to-date information on how to access abortion pills online. “People are looking for ways to access abortion pills. The need for abortion is never going to go away. When you cut off mainstream supply of it through clinical means, people will look for other ways to access the service.”

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2021/06/03/misoprostol-medical-abortion-post-roe-v-wade-abortion-pill-plan-c-aid-access-self-managed-abortion/

USA – Clinics Close, but Abortion Continues

Even as abortion is restricted, telemedicine allows some women to end unwanted pregnancies using legal medications.

By Jane E. Brody
May 31, 2021

Abortion is once again a prominent source of controversy, restrictive legislation and, for many, great distress. A little background may help put this in perspective.

Fifty years ago last fall, after New York State adopted the most lenient abortion law in the country, many out-of-state women with unwanted pregnancies sought help from New York doctors.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/31/well/live/abortion-legal-medication.html

The last days of Roe v. Wade?

BY ALBERT HUNT, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR
05/30/21

Pro-choice abortion advocates are warning ominously that the Supreme Court is about to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision. The head of the Center for Reproductive Rights said “alarm bells are ringing loudly” with the threat of overturning Roe. Democratic politicians are raising the same alarms.

The Republican-dominated Court agreed to review a Mississippi law that bans any abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Lower federal courts have ruled against the law. If the High Court reverses those decisions and upholds the Mississippi statute, it effectively would allow states to overturn Roe protections.

Continued: https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/556116-the-last-days-of-roe-v-wade

The looming battle over abortion in the US

By Pratiksha Ghildial, BBC News, Ohio
May 27, 2021

Pro-choice activists say that state lawmakers across the country are trying to restrict abortion at a pace not seen in decades. So what will this mean for a decades-long fight over the issue in America?

On a Friday night, Julie gets ready to go out with her partner while her two boys curl up on the sofa to watch a Disney movie with their babysitter.
It is a typical happy family scene, one that Julie probably never envisaged when, aged just 19, she was raped and took the decision to have an abortion.

PlannContinued: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57208053