Supreme court hears arguments in case that could reverse Roe v Wade – live

Supreme court justice Sonia Sotomayor comes in hot, asking Scott Stewart, the solicitor general of Mississippi, about the politics around this case.

“Fifteen justices over 30 years have reaffirmed that basic viability line,” she said, alluding to how Roe v Wade has been upheld since the 1992 Planned Parenthood v Casey decision. “Four have said no, two of them members of this court. But fifteen justices have said yes, of varying political background.

“Now, the sponsors of this bill, this house bill in Mississippi, are saying, ‘We’re doing this because we have new justices on the supreme court’. Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the constitution and its reading are just political acts?

Sotomayor continued with the question: “If people believe it’s all political, how will we survive? How will the court survive?”

The first question was from supreme court justice Clarence Thomas:

For those listening live to the oral arguments, you’ll hear some mentions of “Casey”. This is in reference to the 1992 case, Planned Parenthood v Casey, in which the court upheld the essential ruling in Roe v Wade but allowed states to pass more abortion restrictions as long as they did not pose an “undue burden”.

For more background on abortion access in the US, read more here:

Oral arguments have begun before the supreme court in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case with the potential of overturning the landmark ruling in Roe v Wade.

Listen to the arguments live here.

Over at Capitol Hill, several important deadlines continue to loom: Congress has until 3 December to fund the federal government and prevent a government shutdown and 15 December to raise the debt limit and prevent the US from defaulting on its debts, causing global economic catastrophe. No pressure.

Add to that the ambitious Build Back Better Act – Democrats have set a 25 December goal of passing it through the Senate – and it’s a full wish list for the holiday season.

We started off the week with pundits predicting low drama around both government funding and the debt limit. On Tuesday, senate minority leader Mitch McConnell told reporters:

Well, it’s now Wednesday, so that has completely changed. Republicans are now discussing forcing a government shutdown in an effort to foil the federal vaccine mandate on the private sector.

“I’m sure we would all like to simplify the process for resolving the CR (continuing resolution), but I can’t facilitate that without addressing the vaccine mandates,” senator Mike Lee told Politico Playbook in a statement. “Given that federal courts across the country have raised serious issues with these mandates, it’s not unreasonable for my Democratic colleagues to delay enforcement of the mandates for at least the length of the continuing resolution.”

Congressmen Chip Roy and Matt Rosendale appear to also be taking a stand against the National Defense Authorization Act because it would require women to register for the draft as well as men.

Unfortunately, this is not a new strategy. In early November, senator Roger Marshall spearheaded a letter to Joe Biden saying he would not vote for government funding that “enables the enforcement of President Biden’s employer vaccine mandate”. The letter was signed by senator Lee, as well as senators Marsha Blackburn, Ted Cruz, Steve Daines, Jim Inhofe, Ron Johnson, Cynthia Lummis, Rick Scott, Tommy Tuberville and Rand Paul.

With arguments set to begin before the supreme court momentarily, scenes outside the courthouse grew lively and, at times, heated, with supporters from both sides of the issue of abortion rights gathering.

With the landmark Roe v Wade ruling being directly challenged today by Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization in the Supreme Court, endangering this country’s access to safe abortions, here are some stats from the Guardian’s Jessica Glenza:

• If Roe v Wade were overturned, 26 states are expected to move to make abortion illegal.
• About 40 million women of reproductive age, or about 58% of the people who can get pregnant in the US, live in states considered hostile to abortion rights.
• Pro-choice advocates and legal experts warn that fetus-related prosecutions that over-criminalize women – in particular poor women of color – will increase should Roe be overturned. Already, Alabama has prosecuted nearly 500 women since 2006 for allegedly exposing a fetus to a “controlled substance” in the womb, even including prescription painkillers.
• Six of the nine supreme court justices learn to the right, meaning the court is now dominated by conservatives. Abortion advocates see the Dobbs case as especially perilous for abortion rights because justices could have outright dismissed law as unconstitutional under Roe. But the court chose to take the case, indicating at least four justices see a reason to revisit the historic ruling.

Greetings, live blog readers. We’re in for a busy day today.

The supreme court is set to begin hearing oral arguments today in a case that could reverse the landmark ruling in Roe v Wade, which effectively legalized abortion across the US.

In the 1973 Roe decision, the court affirmed that access to safe and legal abortion was a constitutional right. The court ruled that states could not ban abortion before a fetus can survive outside the womb – 24 weeks gestation (a full term pregnancy is considered to be 39 weeks).

Now, with this direct challenge of Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Clinic, the supreme court justices must consider whether the state of Mississippi can ban nearly all abortion from 15 weeks.

Ahead of today’s hearing, more than 250 doctors and medical professionals across the country signed an open letter organized by the Committee to Protect Health Care, urging the courts and policymakers to uphold to uphold Roe v Wade.

“Patients may need an abortion because of pregnancy complications that endanger their health,” the letter reads. “Forcing people with chronic illnesses, following a miscarriage, or after a serious medical condition diagnosis to carry a pregnancy to term against their will could have life-threatening consequences.”

If the supreme court were to overturn Roe v Wade, at least 26 states hostile to abortion would outlaw abortion either immediately or as quickly as possible, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research organization. For example, Louisiana has passed a “trigger law” designed to outlaw abortion if Roe is overturned, meaning a person from Louisiana seeking an abortion would need to travel as far as Kansas to obtain one legally.

The Guardian’s Jessica Glenza and David Smith will be bringing in live reports from the scene all day. For more information on what’s at stake, read more here: