at the top of the hour, the u.s. supreme court will be hearing arguments in the most important abortion rights case in decades. the outcome could have a profound impact on reproductive rights in the country. we have reporters, experts and legal analysts here to help us understand what s happening, what we can expect to see and the potential impact of this case. and we re going to do something rare and extraordinary. we re going to take you inside the courtroom. the arguments will be audio only. the supreme court does not allow television cameras. dobbs versus jackson women s health centers on a mississippi law that bans almost all abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. abortion opponents hope that justices will use this case as an opportunity to undermine or even overrule two previous
heart of roe, it goes to viability. it is the perfect vehicle to overturn roe. we talked about norma mccorvey who personified, of course the abortion debate. the plaintiff in roe who became an antiabortion activist. she says she was paid by antiabortion groups. she gave birth, of course, to that baby that she it not want and you interviewed baby roe earlier this year. what should we know about her? yeah, one thing just to mention that death bed confession was not true. it is 100% true that norma knew if she became pro-life she would be paid to give speeches just like she it on the pro-choice side, but she was not paid to convert. what s important about norma is that in many ways she was the perfect plaintiff for such a case because she represented the majoritarian middle ground here in america. yes, she famously switched side, went from pro-choice to pro-life. she did actually have an
these arguments play out and a decision to come down from the supreme court hopefully in the spring. barbara, i ll get to you in one second. pete, as yasmin is talking about these arguments playing out, what are you going to be listening for as we hear from the justices? are there certain signals or questions that are going to pique your interest more than others. i think the question is who s the fifth vote. remember, it takes four votes to grant a case. the mississippi law was declared unenforceable by the fifth circuit court of appeals which ruled that supreme court precedent wouldn t allow this law to stand. you have to assume there are tissue you have to know that there are four justices who agreed to hear this case. that suggests four justices who think the mississippi law should stand. who s that fifth justice? who might be the fifth vote? is it amy coney barrett? is it brett kavanaugh, the chief justice john roberts? so we sort of know where the three most conservative just
have it all argument. the idea that over the past several decades, the laws and the norms in society and legally have changed so that women can have full careers and full family lives. this is an argument that mississippi is making. can you talk about that and its novelty, if you will, as it relates to this case? well, i d say that turns on its head the argument that a number of people are making that defend the roe versus wade and the decision that followed on from roe, and that is what the lawyers call stare decisis. the law should tend to be settled, that people have come to expect this and come to plan their lives around this. remember that something like one out of every four women in america at some point in their lives will choose to end a pregnancy. so roe v. wade and casey, the law has really become sort of part of the fabric of life, and that s one of the things the court will have to deal with here if it does decide to overturn roe, it s going against
say. and the other sort of important thing to keep in mind is that, yes, over these 50 years since roe was decided, there have been a lot of pro-life successes. the hyde amendment said that medicaid could not be used to sort of provide for portions. the 1989 case of webster it away with public resources. there was a case in 2007, gonzalez v. carhart which banned a late term abortion procedure and there have been endless regulations that have circumscribed roe, consent, et cetera. but always the key essential holding of roe has remained intact, and that of course is viability. the idea that abortion e needs to remain legal until the point late in the second trimester when the fetus can survive outside the womb. and so the pro-life wanted dobbs to go before the supreme court because it goes right to the