U.S. Supreme Court Must Strike Down Harmful Mississippi Abortion Ban

(BOSTON, MA) -- Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which concerns the constitutionality of a 2018 Mississippi law that, if allowed to go into effect, would ban most abortions after 15 weeks. That cutoff point is much earlier in gestation than the timeline established in the court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision. That 1973 ruling told states they could not ban abortions until after the point of viability, when the fetus could survive outside the womb, which is typically at around 24 weeks. Today’s arguments on the Mississippi law come only three months after the court let stand a Texas law banning abortions after just six weeks. Mississippi is one of 12 states that have enacted so-called “trigger laws” that automatically ban or nearly ban all abortions, should the Supreme Court’s new conservative 6-3 majority use the current case to overturn Roe v. Wade. Such abortion bans would disproportionately affect pregnant people who are Black, Latinx, Indigenous and other people of color, as well as people with low incomes and rural residents, all of whom could face potentially unsurmountable obstacles in trying to travel long distances to states that continue to allow abortions up to the point of viability.  

Statement from Community Catalyst Executive Director Emily Stewart regarding today’s arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization:  

“The rights, health and wellbeing of pregnant people in Mississippi, and across the country, are clearly at risk in today’s arguments before the Supreme Court. A decision upholding this law would particularly burden pregnant people with low incomes, disproportionately Black and brown people who already face unfair and discriminatory barriers to abortion and critical sexual and reproductive health care. We stand with our partners in Mississippi in urging the court to invalidate that state’s egregious and harmful abortion ban.” 

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About Community Catalyst: Community Catalyst is a leading non-profit national health advocacy organization dedicated to advancing a movement for health equity and justice. We partner with local, state and national advocates to leverage and build power so all people can influence decisions that affect their health. Health systems will not be accountable to people without a fully engaged and organized community voice. That’s why we work every day to ensure people’s interests are represented wherever important decisions about health and health care are made: in communities, state houses and on Capitol Hill. For more information, visit http://www.communitycatalyst.org. Follow us on Twitter @CommCatHealth.