Of iheartradio. Hey brain stuff lauren. Bogo bomb here nearly fifty years ago the. Us supreme court made one of its most controversial rulings with its landmark decision in roe v wade. The ruling declared that states criminalizing. Abortion violates a woman's right to due process meaning a woman has the right to choose whether to terminate a pregnancy with limited government restrictions. Until that point. Nearly all fifty states outlawed abortion except in cases to save a woman's life or health or in situations such as rape incest or fetal anomaly in the years since that landmark decision state legislators have made numerous attempts to chip away at abortion rights through ballot measures and legislative moves and together have passed more than one thousand three hundred restrictions on abortion. Dozens more are currently making their way through state legislatures but the president set by roe. V wade and its progeny case planned parenthood v. casey remain intact however a mississippi case set to be reviewed. This fall by the supreme court holds the potential to shake the very foundation. Upon which these cases stand the aftershocks. Of which will either strengthen or reshape the future of abortion rights in america it began on january twenty second of nineteen seventy-three when by vote of seven to to. The supreme court legalized abortion in the us. Under roe v wade. The court's judgment was based on the decision that a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy fell under the freedom of personal choice and family matters protected by the fourteenth amendment to the us constitution. The case created the trimester system. Which says states cannot impose any restrictions on women choosing to terminate their pregnancies during the first trimester. Though it does allow some government limits in the second trimester states can restrict or ban abortions in the last trimester once the fetus becomes able to live outside the womb however roe v wade also established that in the final trimester. A woman could obtain an abortion if doctors certified that is necessary to save the life or health of the woman in nineteen ninety two. The supreme court made another landmark decision in planned parenthood v. Casey in that case the court upheld a woman's constitutional right to have an abortion established by row but also applied the undue burden standard for abortion restrictions establishing that no laws should be too burdensome or restrictive of one's fundamental rights. There have been numerous challenges to roe. And casey through the years that the supreme court has struck down including a ban after six weeks in north dakota and ban after twelve weeks in arkansas. The court also struck down two thousand sixteen texas law that impeded clinics abilities to perform abortions earlier this year however texas lawmakers found a way to get around the supreme court at least for now at midnight on september. First of twenty twenty one. The nation's strictest abortion law went into effect in the state known as the fetal heartbeat bill or sp eight the law bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. That is six weeks after a person's last menstrual cycle which is before most people know they're pregnant and far earlier than legally provided by roe v. Wade what makes texas's law different from others is that it's enforceable only through private civil action. Essentially that means that the law empowers citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps another person get an abortion or even intends to assist someone after a so called fetal heartbeat has been detected a which the bill defines as cardiac activity or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart within the station sack. Although biologically the hardest we know it has not developed by six weeks so it's not really a heartbeat but rather the just coordinating effects of a small group of cardiac cells. The person suing does not have to be connected to the person considering the abortion or to a provider or even live in the state of texas if the accuser wins their case the person or entity being sued would have to pay the accuser or accusers. At least ten thousand dollars as well as costs for attorney's fees according to the law an independent abortion provider in texas called whole women's health then challenged the law in an emergency application to the supreme court on the grounds at the six week ban was unconstitutional. The supreme court remained mute on the subject until hours before the law went into effect. Issuing an unsigned opinion consisting of a single long paragraph that stated the abortion providers failed to make their case. Though chief justice. John roberts who was appointed by republican president. George w bush and left leaning justices steven briar elena. Kagan 'em sonia. Sotomayor dissented a for the article. This episode is based on. How stuff works. Spoke with stephanie lindquist. A foundation professor of law and political science at arizona state university and the recognized expert on the supreme court and she explained that the texas law was able to skirt a supreme court review at this juncture quote because it relies on private actors to enforce the law as opposed to state officials. And no one yet has enforced. It accords are very reluctant to resolve cases that have not yet reached a concrete dispute however the us department of justice has a different source of standing. She explains on september ninth of twenty twenty one. The department of justice sued texas on behalf of us citizens on the grounds that texas's abortion law is a violation of federal law attorney. General merrick garland said during a news conference quote. The act is clearly unconstitutional under longstanding. Supreme court precedent the justice department filed the lawsuit in the western district of texas and seeks permanent injunction. But the case will likely eventually make its way to the supreme court when roh went into effect in nineteen seventy three the majority of the court comprised republican appointed justices. Even justice harry blackmun. Who wrote the roe. V wade opinion had been appointed by republican president richard nixon. Since then linquist said the ideological orientation toward abortion has changed. The republican party is now firmly entrenched as the party that opposes abortion before president. Donald trump took office in two thousand seventeen. He vowed to appoint justices to the supreme court to overturn roe. V wade justice anthony. Kennedy's retirement in two thousand eighteen and ruth bader ginsburg's death in september twenty twenty allowed trump to do so with conservative pittsburgh. Cavanaugh and amy coney baratz the supreme court now has a six to three conservative majority with all six having taken hostile positions against abortion at one point or another since roe was decided. Legislators in conservative states have pressed to impose additional restrictions on abortion. But linquist says they now see a window of opportunity with the personnel changes at the supreme court quote a with the majority of justices being catholic and most of them being appointed by republican presidents. The assumption is that now is the time strike while the iron is hot. Legislation can finally get the supreme court. Where roh could be challenged and struck down another such opportunity to entice the supreme court to revisit roe. V wade presented itself in dobbs v jackson women's health organization. This case stems from a law passed by the mississippi legislature in two thousand eighteen that banned abortions after the fifteen th week of pregnancy jackson women's health organization the only licensed abortion provider in mississippi challenged the law's constitutionality after a us district court and the us district court of appeals for the fifth circuit sided with the clinic. Mississippi took the case to the supreme court on may seventeenth of thousand twenty one. The supreme court announced it would review the case. This fall the outcome of which could impact the precedents set by.