On 21 January in Washington DC, many thousands of Americans joined the annual March for Life to protest at the 49th anniversary of the 22 January, 1973 Roe v Wade decision legalising abortion. This year there is great hope that the end of Roe is near, because of a case currently before the Supreme Court, Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health. On 17 May, 2021, the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments on a challenged Mississippi law, the Gestational Age Act, that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks. Oral arguments were heard on 1 December, and the decision is expected to be handed down by the end of June. Though expectations on the pro-life side were initially guarded – it is unlikely that the Dobbs decision would end Roe in one fell swoop – reactions to the oral arguments were extremely encouraging. Said Carolyn McDonnell from Americans United for Life: “Dobbs presented the most comprehensive oral argument the Supreme Court has heard on abortion. Dobbs v Jackson is primed to overrule Roe v Wade and nearly 50 years of a federal constitutional travesty that manufactured a woman’s right to abort her unborn child.”
9:00 AM
Could this be the end of Roe v Wade in the US?
Pro-life groups are confident the Supreme Court will pass a stricter abortion law this year. By Maria McFadden Maffucci
Maria McFadden Maffucci

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