Supreme Court to hear 'direct challenge to Roe v. Wade' on Dec. 1

On Dec. 1, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear its "most important set of abortion-related oral arguments ... since 1992" in a case that's a "direct challenge to Roe v. Wade," report CNN and HuffPost.

The case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, will address Mississippi's ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, Politico writes. The law has previously "been blocked by lower courts because it directly violates Roe's protections for pre-viability abortions." Viability can occur at around 24 weeks of pregnancy, per CNN.

The Mississippi law, passed in 2018, includes no exception for rape or incest, and punishes doctors who perform abortions "outside of the paramters of the law" by suspending or revoking their medical licenses and possibly subjecting them to additional penalties and fines, writes CNN. In its filing, Mississippi has "expressly asked" the court to strike down Roe v. Wade, claiming the decision is "egregiously wrong," Forbes reports.

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In taking the case, Politico explains, "the Supreme Court's conservative supermajority signaled its openness to revisiting and potentially overturning the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide," with a ruling likely to come down just ahead of midterms next year. Read more at Politico and CNN.