By David Leonhardt and Ian Prasad Philbrick
All six Republican appointees on the Supreme Court have long signaled that they have qualms with the Roe v. Wade decision. What’s been less clear is whether at least five of them — enough to make a majority — would be willing to overturn Roe, which would require scrapping decades of legal precedents.
The questions that the justices ask during arguments are often a preview of how they will rule, Adam Liptak, who covers the court for The Times, points out. Yesterday, all six conservative justices asked questions suggesting support for Mississippi’s law. It outlaws abortion after 15 weeks, a clear violation of Roe and subsequent court rulings protecting abortion access early in pregnancy.
Roberts’s questions indicated that he might still prefer a relatively narrow ruling that does not fully undo Roe. But he is no longer the swing vote. After Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, the court has a majority of five Republican-appointed justices even if Roberts votes with the Democratic appointees.
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