2019 - 1973 = 46 years since the passage of the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade. The ruling was reached in a 7 to 2 vote in favor of Jane Roe, a pseudonym for Norma McCorvey, who had brought charges against the Dallas district attorney Henry Wade. The opinion (the majority voters) argued that state restrictions on abortion was unconstitutional under the “due process” clause of the 14th Amendment. They argued that to limit women’s access and ability to use abortion clinic resources was a breach in said women’s privacy - a right implicitly guaranteed to all citizens of the US under the amendment. Although Roe had demanded that states not be allowed to limit women’s reproductive rights in any measure - asking for the “absolute right” of women to have abortions whenever and however - the Supreme Court did make a more balanced ruling where states were not allowed to regulate abortive rights until it became a “compelling state interest” approximately after the first trimester.
On May 15th, 2019, Alabama passed the most restrictive ban on abortions in the country. Although states had previously begun attacking Roe v. Wade by outlawing abortions as early as March, Alabama’s bill received the most press coverage and outrage because of the debate over exceptions to the ban. In the past, most “heartbeat bills” - so named because they outlaw abortions after about 18 weeks, when a fetal heartbeat can first be heard - have included clauses allowing abortions for victims of rape, incest, or when the fetus is a mortal or severe danger to the mother. Additionally, if the fetus is unlikely to survive past birth (ie. it is unviable), abortion remains legal. In Alabama, however, the governor signed into effect a bill that does not include considerations for those victims of rape or incest and bans abortions at any point during the pregnancy. Moreover, it places a penalty of up to 99 years in prison for health care professionals who would perform abortions under the regulation. Roe v. Wade placed state intervention as being constitutional only after the first trimester; this would be about six weeks after the newly created 18 week mark. Already the initial 24 week deadline is worrisome because women do not always realize they are pregnant by that point; shortening the period during which women can legally obtain an abortion constraints accessibility to services even more. Similar legislation that regulates abortion prior to the federal standard and does not account for victims of sexual assault has been passed in several other states: Ohio, Missouri, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, Utah, and Iowa (for a total of 9 states). Several other states are in the process of passing similar bills. Many of the bills have been struck down by judges or otherwise protested to the point of being unenforceable. In either case, the legislation should not be able to go into effect based on the authority of the Supreme Court’s decision over all of the states. Several more liberal-leaning states have passed laws in the opposite direction, either expanding access to abortion or extending the period during which it is legal.
The challenge to Roe v. Wade comes just months after the confirmation of a fifth conservative justice: Bret Kavanaugh. Many who oppose abortion, especially on religious grounds, have become more outspoken and aggressive in attempts to get the court to reconsider its decision in recent years. They have the added confidence that conservatives, who generally oppose abortion, are now in control of the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh has seemed reluctant to bring the case to the stand though and has been acting more moderately in these his first few months as a justice. Nonetheless, it only takes four justices to vote for the case to be heard for it to be brought before the court. The docket is soon to be determined for the Supreme Court’s upcoming sessions.