Washington (AFP) ‐ The United States Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear what may be its most significant case in decades on the controversial subject of abortion.Naaaw...it'll just go back to the States, as it should
At issue is a state law in Louisiana which requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.
Groups in favor of abortion argue that the law would severely restrict access to the practice and lead to the closure of two of three remaining abortion clinics in the southern state.
The case, June Medical Services v Russo, will be the first on the emotive issue to come before the court since President Donald Trump appointed two conservative justices ‐ Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh ‐ to the nine-member bench.
Their appointments have galvanized anti-abortion activists in the country’s conservative "Bible Belt," and several states have passed tough laws restricting the practice. A ban in Alabama even covered cases of rape.
That and most of those other laws have been struck down by lower courts, but anti-abortion groups are hoping to put the issue before the Supreme Court and force it to revisit Roe v. Wade.
"The case is significant because the law that is being challenged is more or less identical to one that the court struck down in 2016," said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at Florida State University.
"Switching court membership? Is that enough to undo a case?" asked Ziegler, author of "Beyond Abortion: Roe v Wade and the Battle for Privacy."