SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Reproductive rights and anti-choice protesters rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court before the start of oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case on December 1, 2021. The case considers the constitutionality of Mississippi's restrictive ban on abortion after 15 weeks. (Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Reproductive Rights Defenders Rally as SCOTUS Hears Challenge to Roe
"Any ruling upholding Mississippi's ban guts the central holding of Roe and our right to make fundamental decisions about our lives, our futures, and our families."
Dec 01, 2021
Reproductive rights advocates rallied Wednesday outside the U.S. Supreme Court as justices heard oral arguments in a case directly challenging the constitutional right to abortion affirmed in Roe v. Wade.
"The future of reproductive freedom is in grave danger."
At issue before the conservative-leaning court is a challenge to Mississippi's ban on nearly all abortions after 15 weeks. Thus far blocked by lower courts, the law, according to Dr. Martin Tucker, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, is "an example of harmful legislative interference into the practice of medicine."
The stakes of the ruling, say abortion care defenders, couldn't be higher.
"There's no middle ground," the Center for Reproductive Rights said in an event description for the Abortion Is Essential: Rally for Our Rights event it's hosting in collaboration with the National Abortion Access Coalition.
"Any ruling upholding Mississippi's ban guts the central holding of Roe and our right to make fundamental decisions about our lives, our futures, and our families," the group added.d
According to the Guttmacher Institute, "26 states are certain or likely to ban abortion," should Roe fall, with a dozen of those states having so-called "trigger bans" on the books that would immediately curtail abortion rights.
The case before the court Wednesday is Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization--the latter referring to Mississippi's sole remaining abortion clinic, which is being represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights. Dobbs refers to Thomas Dobbs, Mississippi's top health officer.
Mississippi is asking the court to overturn the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe affirming the constitutional right to abortion prior to viability, which was upheld in 1992 in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
The challenge to that right comes amid a wave of anti-choice measures put forth by state officials and as the top court now has a 6-3 conservative majority, with three of the right-wing justices--Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh--having been appointed by former President Donald Trump.
The potential gutting of abortion rights is being relished by anti-choice groups and figures like Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence, who said Tuesday that he hoped Roe was headed "to the ash heap of history where it belongs"--a remark that flies in the face of strong public support for upholding the ruling.
In a statement Tuesday, NARAL Pro-Choice America president Mini Timmaraju said that "the constitutional right to abortion faces a terrifying and unprecedented threat" and called "this moment of crisis... the culmination of the anti-choice movement's decadeslong efforts to undermine the will of the overwhelming majority of people in this country who support the legal right to abortion."
"Make no mistake," she said. "The future of reproductive freedom is in grave danger, and the time to take bold action to protect it is now. It is absolutely critical that our leaders in the Senate pass the Women's Health Protection Act immediately to safeguard the right to abortion throughout our country."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Reproductive rights advocates rallied Wednesday outside the U.S. Supreme Court as justices heard oral arguments in a case directly challenging the constitutional right to abortion affirmed in Roe v. Wade.
"The future of reproductive freedom is in grave danger."
At issue before the conservative-leaning court is a challenge to Mississippi's ban on nearly all abortions after 15 weeks. Thus far blocked by lower courts, the law, according to Dr. Martin Tucker, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, is "an example of harmful legislative interference into the practice of medicine."
The stakes of the ruling, say abortion care defenders, couldn't be higher.
"There's no middle ground," the Center for Reproductive Rights said in an event description for the Abortion Is Essential: Rally for Our Rights event it's hosting in collaboration with the National Abortion Access Coalition.
"Any ruling upholding Mississippi's ban guts the central holding of Roe and our right to make fundamental decisions about our lives, our futures, and our families," the group added.d
According to the Guttmacher Institute, "26 states are certain or likely to ban abortion," should Roe fall, with a dozen of those states having so-called "trigger bans" on the books that would immediately curtail abortion rights.
The case before the court Wednesday is Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization--the latter referring to Mississippi's sole remaining abortion clinic, which is being represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights. Dobbs refers to Thomas Dobbs, Mississippi's top health officer.
Mississippi is asking the court to overturn the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe affirming the constitutional right to abortion prior to viability, which was upheld in 1992 in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
The challenge to that right comes amid a wave of anti-choice measures put forth by state officials and as the top court now has a 6-3 conservative majority, with three of the right-wing justices--Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh--having been appointed by former President Donald Trump.
The potential gutting of abortion rights is being relished by anti-choice groups and figures like Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence, who said Tuesday that he hoped Roe was headed "to the ash heap of history where it belongs"--a remark that flies in the face of strong public support for upholding the ruling.
In a statement Tuesday, NARAL Pro-Choice America president Mini Timmaraju said that "the constitutional right to abortion faces a terrifying and unprecedented threat" and called "this moment of crisis... the culmination of the anti-choice movement's decadeslong efforts to undermine the will of the overwhelming majority of people in this country who support the legal right to abortion."
"Make no mistake," she said. "The future of reproductive freedom is in grave danger, and the time to take bold action to protect it is now. It is absolutely critical that our leaders in the Senate pass the Women's Health Protection Act immediately to safeguard the right to abortion throughout our country."
Reproductive rights advocates rallied Wednesday outside the U.S. Supreme Court as justices heard oral arguments in a case directly challenging the constitutional right to abortion affirmed in Roe v. Wade.
"The future of reproductive freedom is in grave danger."
At issue before the conservative-leaning court is a challenge to Mississippi's ban on nearly all abortions after 15 weeks. Thus far blocked by lower courts, the law, according to Dr. Martin Tucker, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, is "an example of harmful legislative interference into the practice of medicine."
The stakes of the ruling, say abortion care defenders, couldn't be higher.
"There's no middle ground," the Center for Reproductive Rights said in an event description for the Abortion Is Essential: Rally for Our Rights event it's hosting in collaboration with the National Abortion Access Coalition.
"Any ruling upholding Mississippi's ban guts the central holding of Roe and our right to make fundamental decisions about our lives, our futures, and our families," the group added.d
According to the Guttmacher Institute, "26 states are certain or likely to ban abortion," should Roe fall, with a dozen of those states having so-called "trigger bans" on the books that would immediately curtail abortion rights.
The case before the court Wednesday is Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization--the latter referring to Mississippi's sole remaining abortion clinic, which is being represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights. Dobbs refers to Thomas Dobbs, Mississippi's top health officer.
Mississippi is asking the court to overturn the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe affirming the constitutional right to abortion prior to viability, which was upheld in 1992 in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
The challenge to that right comes amid a wave of anti-choice measures put forth by state officials and as the top court now has a 6-3 conservative majority, with three of the right-wing justices--Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh--having been appointed by former President Donald Trump.
The potential gutting of abortion rights is being relished by anti-choice groups and figures like Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence, who said Tuesday that he hoped Roe was headed "to the ash heap of history where it belongs"--a remark that flies in the face of strong public support for upholding the ruling.
In a statement Tuesday, NARAL Pro-Choice America president Mini Timmaraju said that "the constitutional right to abortion faces a terrifying and unprecedented threat" and called "this moment of crisis... the culmination of the anti-choice movement's decadeslong efforts to undermine the will of the overwhelming majority of people in this country who support the legal right to abortion."
"Make no mistake," she said. "The future of reproductive freedom is in grave danger, and the time to take bold action to protect it is now. It is absolutely critical that our leaders in the Senate pass the Women's Health Protection Act immediately to safeguard the right to abortion throughout our country."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.