Is Roe V. Wade Being Overturned? Supreme Court To Review Abortion Ban

With a 6-3 conservative majority, the U.S. Supreme Court said it would consider a Mississippi petition on Friday that would tacitly challenge Roe v. Wade.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch on Thursday petitioned the high court to review the state’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The brief argues that judges on various appeals courts have come to different conclusions on Medical Services v. Russo, a June decision from the high court that overturned similar restrictions on abortion in Louisiana.

Fitch last week said a review from the Supreme Court would give the justices a chance to clarify the position.

"This case remains an ideal vehicle to promptly resolve both that question and the first question presented — the contradictions in this court's decisions over use of 'viability' as a bright line for measuring pro-life legislation," she wrote.

With Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation clinching a conservative majority on the bench, that could rattle activists worried about a woman’s right to an abortion.

When Mississippi filed its petition last week, Hillary Schneller, an attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in an email to CBS News that the state abortion ban flies in the face of Supreme Court precedent on Roe v. Wade.

"Mississippi's abortion ban, by definition, is a complete and insurmountable obstacle for pregnant people seeking abortion care after 15 weeks," Schneller said.

During her confirmation hearing, Barrett dodged questions on her position on Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that upheld abortion rights, saying she didn’t want to signal how she’d rule on precedent on a pending case.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she felt Barrett would uphold the ruling on Roe, but stressed her own support on reproductive rights was “not without limits.” Murkowski was a late holdout on nodding for Barrett, leaving Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as the lone Republican to not vote in favor of the confirmation.

Before her confirmation, Barrett submitted a letter to Senate leaders acknowledging she signed a letter in support of an ad critical of Roe v. Wade, where backers called “for the unborn to be protected in law.”

Apart from the Mississippi petition, there are 17 other cases pending that could challenge the landmark 1973 ruling.