Supreme Court abortion case: Justices grill lawyers on precedent, fetal viability, constitutional rights

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a potential landmark abortion rights case Wednesday, as the state of Mississippi defended an abortion restriction law that directly challenges Roe v. Wade.

The case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, centers on the law, which bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, much sooner than the current legal standard, which prohibits abortion bans prior to fetal viability — roughly 23 to 24 weeks into pregnancy.

Throughout the arguments, the justices alternated between examining not just the legal standards for abortion laws based on interests of women and protecting potential life, but also the court’s own interest in protecting itself from losing the faith of the public.

"[T]o overrule under fire in the absence of the most compelling reason to reexamine a watershed decision would subvert the Court's legitimacy beyond any serious question," Justice Stephen Breyer said, quoting the opinion in 1992's Planned Parenthood v. Casey.