WLBT-TV Jackson
Wicker, Hyde-Smith among more than 200 lawmakers urging SCOTUS to uphold Mississippi abortion ban
By Anthony Warren
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - A group of congressional leaders led by Mississippi’s Republican delegation have filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold Mississippi’s abortion ban.
This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up a challenge to the law, which bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Lower courts have declared the law unconstitutional. However, the state appealed the decision to the high court, saying that lower courts were using different legal standards to shoot down state abortion bans.
“In taking Mississippi’s pro-life law, the Supreme Court has a chance to reconsider the current misguided abortion jurisprudence,” said Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. “As a Senator, as a woman, and as a mother, I think this case offers us a chance to overturn roe and return the abortion issue to the political process and away from activist judges.”
In all, 44 Senators and 184 members of the House of Representatives signed on to the brief, including Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker and Reps. Steven Palazzo, Trent Kelly, and Michael Guest.
“Mississippi is at the forefront of the fight for life, and I am glad to lead the charge in Congress on behalf of the unborn,” Wicker said.
Justice’s decision to consider the case has sparked debate among pro-life supporters and abortion rights activists. Pro-life supporters are hoping to have Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision legalizing abortions, to be overturned.
“The ability to decide whether to continue a pregnancy has to remain with an individual,” Hillary Schneller, a senior staff attorney with the Center for Reproductive Rights, told WLBT previously. “The alternative is it’s the government making this decision for people.”
Meanwhile, the fight over abortion rights continues in Jackson.
Pro-life activist Coleman Boyd is planning a rally for 9 a.m. Saturday at the Jackson Women’s Health Organization in Fondren.
The facility is the state’s only abortion clinic and has been the site of numerous protests in recent years.