All eyes are on the U.S. Supreme Court this week, as justices hear oral arguments in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, the most consequential abortion battle to reach the high court since 1992.
The magnitude of the case, assessing whether Mississippi has the legal right to restrict abortions at the 15-week mark, hasn’t been lost on either side of the divide.
Pro-choice activists fear any rollbacks of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortion across the U.S., while pro-life activists anxiously await a decision that could, to varying degrees, help protect the unborn.
“This is huge,” pro-life advocate Abby Johnson told CBN News this week, explaining what’s at stake. “This is an opportunity for the states to finally take back their power.”
Johnson is uniquely suited to understand how both sides of the aisle are processing the issue. She was once an ardently pro-choice Planned Parenthood clinic director until she witnessed an abortion that changed everything.
Now, Johnson is one of the most well-known pro-life champions in the world.
She believes the Dobbs case offers the opportunity to “set right” what the Roe decision got wrong and to allow states to implement heartbeat legislation among other first-trimester abortion restrictions.
Despite the optimism many pro-lifers are feeling over the prospects surrounding Dobbs, Johnson cautioned that 15-week abortion bans won’t stop the majority of terminations.
“I would not consider a 15-week ban necessarily a win,” Johnson said. “Banning abortion at 15 weeks plus would only ban about 10% of abortions. The overwhelming majority of abortions are taking place in the first trimester.”
She continued, “For this really to be a win, we need the Supreme Court to either overturn Roe or we need them to say that states will be allowed to ban abortion in the first trimester.”
Watch Johnson’s comments at the 27:50-mark:
Johnson also offered her gut reaction surrounding what she believes might happen with the Dobbs case, as well as a separate Texas heartbeat bill battle currently pending a decision before the high court.
While she believes the court might rule against Texas’ pro-life regulations, she is hopeful the Dobbs case could have a different conclusion.
“I am feeling like we may get the win in the longterm,” Johnson said. “They may end up overturning Roe or allowing some sort of reasonable state first-trimester bans.”
The pro-life champion cited changes in technology and knowledge over the past few decades when it comes to abortion and the “pre-born human child” — advancements that could pave the way to a pro-life court victory.
Listen to oral arguments in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case as they unfold Wednesday morning:
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