Overturning Roe v. Wade

Recent state abortion cases have swept the nation, causing outrage and proteststhroughout the country between pro-life and pro-choice movements due to the possibility of the abortion rights case Roe v. Wade being overturned by the US Supreme Court. 

Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization is the abortion rights case being held in the supreme court at the moment. The case originated in Mississippi with an organization called Jackson Women’s Health Organization that questioned if the Gestational Age Act of 2018, was constitutional. This act bans getting an abortion after fifteen weeks into the pregnancy unless the woman is in danger during the pregnancy. 

Because of the current conservative majority in the supreme court, many people have predicted that Roe v. Wade will be overturned in a ruling for the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization case. Twenty-one states have anti-abortion restrictions ready to be put in place the Supreme Court decides to overturn the Roe while five other states are likely to place restrictions as well. The Supreme Court heard arguments on Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization on December 1st, 2021. A decision is expected sometime this year.

Texas’s recent law is more restrictive. In September, Texas passed a new law saying someone is not able to get an abortion six weeks into the pregnancy except in some special cases. The Supreme Court decided that the law could stay in place but abortion providers have tried to challenge the decision saying that it is unconstitutional. 

Here in Georgia, the abortion laws allow a person to get an abortion up to twenty weeks, but if it is not a life-threatening procedure, insurance can not cover it. Georgia is one of the twenty-one states ready to restrict abortion depending on the outcome of the Supreme Court case. Georgia’s abortion laws are being questioned in the federal court systems because the Georgia legislature is planning to restrict abortion after a heartbeat is detected which can happen six weeks into the  pregnancy. The courts are waiting for the outcome of the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization case to decide. 

By Kymbree Ogle-Forbes