but pushing it back to an earlier point in the pregnancy where a woman has to seek abortion. after that time it will be harder to get abortions in the united states. i would be shocked if they overrule it completely because i think there will be an enormous controversy. you were talking about the right of privacy, that goes back to a connecticut case, griswald versus connecticut. connecticut was trying to ban contraceptives at that time. when the court looked at that law, clearly they thought it was absolutely absurd, but there was nothing explicitly in the constitution about privacy. they said, well, there s a penumbra that comes off other rights, that s the term that s been used to describe it, of the right to privacy. even though it s not mentioned in the constitution. that later would become the basis of roe. roe stands on very sandy ground when it comes to constitutional
right now a consequential case that could reshape abortion rights in the united states. this morning the supreme court is hearing arguments in mississippi s push to ban abortions after 15 weeks with very few exceptions, and that is directly putting the future of roe v wade in jeopardy. back with former assistant u.s. attorney kim wehle and new york city prosecutor paul callan. there was a moment a few moments ago where justice sotomayor raised the issue that the mississippi lawmakers who proposed this law said in public they did so because there was a new conservative majority on the court. have a listen and we ll get your reaction. will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the constitution and its reading are just political acts? if people actually believe it s
all political, how will we survive? how will the court survive? justice sotomayor, i think the concern about appearing political makes it absolutely imperative that the court reach a decision well grounded in the constitution, in text, structure and goes along with the stare decisis factors. casey did that. casey went through every one of them. you think they did it wrong. that s your belief, but casey did that. kim, you know the law better. what s your view on that? by the way, i remember during all these justice s confirmation hearings them saying, yes, of course i ll respect precedent. seems like that s an open precedent. sotomayor, justice kagan and even chief justice roberts are hammering the idea of stare decisis.
with the mississippi case? you know, i think the honest answer to that is no. this is really a this this was really about the procedural aspect of of the texas law which is so unusual. the mississippi law is is very conventional in its enforcement. it basically says the state will punish you, abortion clinic, if you conduct an abortion after 15 weeks. it s worth remembering that, um, you know, that that would be a clear violation of what the constitution has been understood to mean since 1973. viability is about 24 weeks. y um, the law has said you can t um, ban abortion under viability. 15 weeks is clearly unviable. so, if they uphold the mississippi law, roe v. wade is no longer the law of the land. senator davis, what do you think the justices will do on the mississippi case? i think, based on what we know of the history of these new trump appointees to the court,
and of course justice alito and justice thomas, it s very likely that they ll take a hostile position to roe v. wade and find a way to uphold this mississippi law. even if that means that they will, um, hold the structure of roe in place, i think, essentially, they ll be gutting its viability standard as jeffrey mentioned. and it s very likely that we are going to see an extreme rollback, if not a complete rollback, of abortion in in states where states are hostile to that constitutional right. wendy davis, jeff toobin, appreciate you both being here. thank you. up next, from a pilot venting politically on the pa system or a flight attendant punched in the face. a look at the state of what increasingly seems like our distinctly unfriendly skies just in time for the holiday-travel season.