Supreme Court hears abortion arguments in Mississippi case challenging Roe v. Wade - NBC News

The showdown, which centers on whether the Constitution provides a right to seek an abortion, focuses on a 2018 Mississippi law, blocked by lower federal courts, that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, allowing them only in medical emergencies or cases of severe fetal abnormality.

Those who seek to outlaw abortion entirely or drastically reduce availability have remained hopeful that the conservative-controlled Supreme Court will deliver them a victory decades after suffering a defeat in Roe v.

Opponents contend that the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the Constitution protects abortion.

"The Constitution places trust in the people, on hard issue after hard issue, the people make this country where abortion is a hard issue," said Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart during oral arguments.

Sotomayor came back to say, "there is not anything in the Constitution the Supreme Court is the last word on what the Constitution means.".

Much of the country appears to be in the middle, with the poll finding that 23 percent of respondents said abortion should be legal "most of the time" and that 34 percent said it should be illegal "with exceptions.".

Pro-abortion protestors were seen outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday dressed in bright teal, with signs reading “liberate abortion” and “abortion is essential,” chanting in support of abortion access.

Lauren Marlowe, 22, a pro-life demonstrator outside the Supreme Court said she is “very excited” by the possibility of Roe v

The issue of whether the Constitution provides a right to seek an abortion is not before the court in the Texas challenges, but it is directly present in the Mississippi case