Maryland AG Frosh Joins Coalition Opposed To Mississippi Abortion Law
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh has joined a coalition of his peers urging the Supreme Court to protect a woman's right to choose ahead of a pivotal hearing.
The coalition, which is made up of 24 state attorneys general, filed a brief with the Supreme Court saying that Mississippi's ban on certain abortions is unconstitutional according to legal precedents.
In a news release Monday, Frosh's office criticized the Mississippi law. The release pointed to the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade in which the Supreme Court held that the Constitution does not empower states to keep a woman from deciding whether to carry a pregnancy to term, a ruling supported in Planned Parenthood v. Casey nearly two decades later.
"We will continue to fight to protect the constitutional right of women to make their own health care decisions," Frosh said. "Mississippi's abortion ban is clearly prohibited by Roe v. Wade and nearly a half-century of jurisprudence. This law simply hurts women."
The coalition characterized Mississippi's law as an "attempt to undo decades of Supreme Court precedent" and part of an effort to strip women of their rights.
The Mississippi law was signed into law in March 2018, becoming the most strict abortion ban in the country. The law, which forbid abortions at 15 weeks, was later struck down by a federal district court judge, who said the state passed an unconstitutional law in an effort to ultimately overturn Roe V. Wade.
An appeals court later upheld the district court's ruling.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments over the Mississippi case in December.