The Mississippi statute prohibits abortion if the age of the unborn child, as calculated from the first day of the last menstrual cycle, is greater than 15 weeks.¹ There is an exception for severe fetal abnormality and “medical emergency.”² The statute defines “medical emergency” as “a condition in which, on the basis of the physician’s good faith clinical judgment, an abortion is necessary to preserve the life of a pregnant woman whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition arising from the pregnancy itself, or when the continuation of the pregnancy will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.”³

Lower courts struck down the Mississippi statute under Casey. State officials subsequently filed a petition for certiorari, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up three questions. Today, the Supreme Court granted certiorari on the first of the three questions: “Whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional.”⁴ Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, No 19-1392 (U.S. May 17, 2021) (order granting certiorari).

The case will be briefed over the next few months and is expected to be orally argued in the October 2021 Term with a decision likely at the end of June 2022. No date has yet been set for argument. Stay tuned for further updates as this case moves forward.

² Id.

³ Id.

⁴ The two questions on which the Court did not grant cert are as follows: “Whether the validity of a pre-viability law that protects women’s health, the dignity of unborn children, and the integrity of the medical profession and society should be analyzed under Casey’s ‘undue burden’ standard or Hellerstedt’s balancing of benefits and burdens,” and “Whether abortion providers have third-party standing to invalidate a law that protects women’s health from the dangers of late-term abortions.”

“Today we will begin a 10-month journey undertaken together to talk about the beauty of being a family. Everyone is called to lovingly care for the life of the family, because families are never a problem, they are always a gift and, in terms of the future, they are an opportunity.”

This is the invitation of Pope Francis in the video “Walking Together”, the first of 10 videos in which he appears with families from many parts of the world to proclaim the joy of love!

“How do we imagine God’s love? Is there a concrete reality in the world that helps us see this love with our own eyes? There is! It is the family! The image of God is reflected in man and in woman, in conjugal love: a living ‘icon’ through which God is made manifest.”

With these words, Pope Francis opens the second video featuring families from around the world.

This is the first of a series of resources to assist your efforts in preparation for the next World Meeting of Families.