The Supreme Court will hear opening arguments Wednesday in its first major abortion case since Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh joined the bench.
The Court will hear a challenge to a 2014 Louisiana law that requires doctors at abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals — a law inspired by a Texas statute that was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2016.
In Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, now-retired justice Anthony M. Kennedy joined the court’s four liberals to form a majority, but with President Trump appointing Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, pro-life supporters are hopeful the precedent could be overturned.
Trump has signaled in the past that his Supreme Court picks would be able to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade, with Wednesday’s June Medical Services v. Gee the first litmus test.
In 2018, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Louisiana law, which is based on the argument that abortion itself can be harmful to women, and therefore that it is in the benefit of women to restrict access.
Last February, the Supreme Court temporarily suspended the law in a 5–4 vote, before deciding to hear an appeal in October. Chief Justice John G. Roberts cast his vote with four liberal justices, while the four conservatives dissented.