Mississippi asks U.S. Supreme Court to overturn abortion rights landmark

The state of Mississippi on Thursday urged the U.S. Supreme Court in a major case set to be argued in its next term to overturn the landmark 1973 ruling that recognized that women have a constitutional right to obtain an abortion. 

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, a Republican, said in papers filed with the court that the Roe v. Wade ruling and a subsequent 1992 decision that affirmed it were both “egregiously wrong” and that state legislatures should have more leeway to restrict abortion. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.

The filing marked the first time that Mississippi, in seeking to revive a restrictive state abortion law blocked by lower courts, made overturning Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide and ended an era in which some states had banned the procedure, a central part of its argument.

“It is time for the court to set this right and return this political debate to the political branches of government,” Fitch added in a statement.