"Mississippi’s Arguments. Recall that the Supreme Court concluded that the Constitution protects a right to abortion without actually interpreting the Constitution. Mississippi fills this gap in its brief to the Court, in which Attorney General Lynn Fitch argues that nothing in the Constitution’s text, structure, history, or tradition supports a constitutional right to abortion. In the absence of such a right, Mississippi may legislate on abortion as it does on other subjects. When assessing any democratically enacted law that does not implicate a constitutional right, courts will generally uphold the law if there is a rational basis to conclude that the law will help achieve a legitimate objective of the state. The state argues: Roe and Casey are...at odds with the straightforward, constitutionally grounded answer to the question presented. So the question becomes whether this Court should overrule those decisions. It should. The...case for overruling Roe and Casey is overwhelming.... Roe and Casey have proven hopelessly unworkable. Heightened scrutiny of abortion restrictions has not promoted administrability or predictability. And heightened scrutiny of abortion laws can never serve those aims. Because the Constitution does not protect a right to abortion, it provides no guidance to courts on how to account for the interests in this context.... Roe and Casey have inflicted significant damage."
January 1, 1970