What would happen if the landmark abortion cases Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court?
A new report from Fox News attempts to answer that question, as the high court spends the next few months deciding how to rule on a potential landmark abortion case stemming from a Mississippi anti-abortion law.
What’s going on?
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the blockbuster abortion case Dobbs v. Jackson. Based on how those oral arguments went, many are predicting that in the Summer of 2022, when the justices release their decision in this case, Roe and Casey could possibly be overturned.
Roe is the case that established a woman’s right to obtain abortion services during the pre-viability stage of the pregnancy, and Casey reaffirmed that right and added to it the “undue burden” test, which stops a state from enacting a law that would place an “undue burden” on abortion access.
Dobbs concerns the constitutionality of a Mississippi law that essentially bans abortions at the 15-week mark of the pregnancy, which is pre-viability by Roe’s standards, or before the baby is capable of surviving outside of the womb.
The high court could do anything from striking down Dobbs, to overruling Roe and Casey, to placing limitations on Roe and Casey, and many more possible outcomes. But, Fox News speculated what could happen if the justices overturn Roe and Casey.
What happens?
If the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe and Casey, such a ruling would return the issue of abortion to the state and federal legislatures. Most likely, what would be seen as a result is a number of abortion-related bills with Republican-led states enacting laws restricting or eliminating abortion access, and Democrat-led states enacting laws granting increased abortion access.
From the Republicans, more restrictive abortion measures would likely be pushed through in state legislatures.
Additionally, such a change in the abortion laws in Republican-led states would happen fairly quickly, as many have trigger laws that would essentially automatically place anti-abortion laws on the books as soon as Roe and Casey are overturned.
What about blue states?
Democrats, on the other hand, would, more or less, look to codify Roe and Casey. At the federal level, in fact, Democrats are already attempting to make such a move, as well as some blue-state legislatures.
In a post-Roe, post-Casey world, we would also likely see mountains of litigation challenging all of the newly enacted laws that would come as a result. Also, lobbying attempts would kick into high gear, which, according to Fox, could see both sides pushing their agendas to the extremes.
All of this, of course, is nothing more than speculation. However, it proves that monumental changes will, in fact, take place across the country no matter the outcome.
The post Overturning Roe would mean more abortion restrictions in GOP states, more litigation first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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