The U.S. Supreme Court announced it will be taking up a case challenging the constitutionality of Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban. Activists and journalists on the left characterize it as a threat to freedom while right-leaning outlets are rejoicing in the left’s freak-out.
Summary
The United States Supreme Court is re-entering the political fight over abortion after it announced it will be taking up a lawsuit over Mississippi’s effective ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
- AP notes that while Mississippi is not asking for the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion in 1973, to be overturned, groups supporting abortion rights see the case as an existential threat.
- The announcement of the case is “energizing” activists on both sides of the debate, with pro-life advocates seeing it as a potential turning point in a decades-long effort to reverse Roe v. Wade.
- With the decision looming, particularly over the upcoming midterm elections, progressive activists and members of Congress are disheartened by Biden’s relative lack of emphasis on abortion rights, saying “he hasn’t mentioned abortion in any speeches, videos or social media posts.”
- Vox’s language was such that the reader would think it is an armed conflict, saying the first abortion case brought up since Justice Amy Coney Barrett has joined the Court is a “threat” and with her presence, “[Chief Justice John] Robert’s vote to make significant incursions on reproductive freedom” was no longer necessary.
- The Huffington Post leaned heavily on pro-abortion advocates for “explaining” what the case could mean, with the president of pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights dialing the rhetoric up to 11 by saying a ruling in Mississippi’s favor “would essentially toss out Roe v. Wade.”
- The Washington Post made the situation on the court sound dire for progressives and Democrats, saying the abortion case, combined with a case related to gun rights and the possible consideration of a case over Harvard’s use of “affirmative action” in admissions is giving conservatives hope.
- Wall Street Journal’s reporting on the topic was nuanced and detailed, emphasizing the point that if the court sides with Mississippi, it would not outright overturn Roe v. Wade, but allow states more ability to restrict “pre-viability abortions.”
- RedState highlighted some of the more prominent liberals on Twitter “losing their minds” over the announcement of the case, poking fun at the references and comparisons to The Handmaid’s Tale.
- The Washington Free Beacon emphasized the case’s winding path through the courts, showing how hostile various federal judges were to Mississippi’s law while the federal judges bickered between each other about the tone each took in their decisions, which are now being considered by the Supreme Court.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2021
