Robert: On the surface, it is about Mississippi’s law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks, which is much earlier than current Supreme Court precedents allow. But the state, joined by antiabortion activists and other conservative states, has raised the stakes by asking the court to overturn its precedents in 1973’s Roe v. Wade and 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The latter case upheld the basic premise of Roe, that there is a constitutional right to abortion, and said states may not impose an undue burden on a woman seeking an abortion before viability, when the fetus can survive outside the womb.
