Is SCOTUS ready to reconsider abortion rights?
Image from Shutterstock.
The U.S. Supreme Court is considering cert petitions asking it to rule on new abortion restrictions.
In one case, the Supreme Court dropped “a fairly vague hint” that it may be interested in a case challenging the viability standard established in the 1973 decision Roe v. Wade, SCOTUSblog reports.
The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had upheld the viability standard while striking down state laws in Arkansas and North Dakota, even as it “sharply questioned” its workability, SCOTUSblog says. Arkansas sought cert, and the Supreme Court asked for a response to the petition from Arkansas doctors and patients who had declined to file a response.
Only one justice is needed to ask for such a response, while four are needed to grant cert.
Because of developments in obstetrics, the 8th Circuit said in its ruling, a 24-week-old fetus that wasn’t viable and had no protection in the 1970s would be viable and protectable today,
The Arkansas law had banned abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy, while North Dakota had banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, thought to be about six weeks into pregnancy.
The Supreme Court is also considering whether to accept a case challenging limits on abortion clinics and doctors in Texas, USA Today reports. At issue in the case is what kind of restrictions imposed by the states are an “undue burden” on the right to abortion, a standard established in its 1992 decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
The Texas law requires doctors who perform abortions to have admission privileges at nearby hospitals and requires abortion clinics to comply with standards that apply to ambulatory surgery centers. The Supreme Court blocked the law from taking effect in June following an earlier, partial stay last year.
A case challenging a similar law in Mississippi is also before the justices.
