On May 17, the U.S. Supreme Court voted to take up Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health, a challenge to a Mississippi law that bans abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. Two lower courts have ruled for the plaintiffs, blocking the law, but now the case comes before the most conservative — and presumably most anti-abortion — Supreme Court in recent history. At risk is the Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 ruling, Roe v. Wade that made abortion legal across the United States. Constance Shehan is a sociologist and women’s studies professor at the University of Florida, who recently took a look back at the changes in women’s lives Roe v. Wade helped usher in.
Photo of U.S. Supreme Court by Mr. Kjetil Ree., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
