[Politics] Chief Justice John Roberts is at the epicenter of an abortion dispute before the Supreme Court

[S e u o n g]

Since his first job as a young lawyer in Washington, John Roberts' work has been entangled with Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that gave women a right to end a pregnancy.

He helped hoist the banner against Roe in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. But years later, during 2005 Senate hearings for the chief justice post he now holds, Roberts testified that Roe should be respected as precedent, particularly after being affirmed in 1992. And he has largely held to that.

 

 

Now, Roberts, the Supreme Court and the country face a pivotal moment for abortion rights. And Roberts' action in a dispute the court will take up this week, over Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban, could be his most consequential of him. He leads a conservative bench that, since last year's succession of Amy Coney Barrett for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has appeared on the precipice of reversing Roe v. Wade.
Dueling parties in the Mississippi case known at Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization have laced their briefs with lines from Roberts' opinions regarding abortion rights and the value of adhering to precedent or, alternatively, discarding it. The chief justice writes with care, never leaving himself in cement, which lets both sides emphasize the words that suit their purpose.
Roberts represents more than one vote among the nine. As chief, he steers the discussion. If he is in the majority, he also assigns the opinion that he will speak for the court. Further, Roberts has tried to inspire public confidence in the federal judiciary and repeatedly argued that his opinions reflect justices' neutral, impartial views rather than any political instincts.
Polls show that public approval of the court has dropped in recent months, notably since September 1 when the majority allowed a Texas ban on abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy to take effect even as litigation over the law that plainly conflicts with Roe v. Wade was underway. Roberts broke from his colleagues on the right wing in that case, dissenting as he wrote that the court should at least temporarily suspend the ban while courts assessed the validity of the law. The court heard oral arguments on November 1 and has yet to rule.

 

nlike the distinct procedural dispute in the Texas case, the Mississippi abortion controversy goes right to the heart of abortion rights, testing whether women nationwide have a right to end a pregnancy before viability. That is, when a fetus can live outside the womb, at 22-24 weeks.

Both Roe v. Wade, nearly a half century ago, and the decision that affirmed it two decades later, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, declared viability to be the cutoff line for when the pregnant woman's interest could be eclipsed by protection for the fetus.
"Casey reaffirmed 'the most central principle of Roe v. Wade,' 'a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy before viability,'" Roberts wrote in a 2020 Louisiana case as he quoted the 1992 decision.
The question now is whether that line will hold.

 

 

LINK: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/28/politics/abortion-roe-vs-wade-john-roberts-supreme-court/index.html