Decision On Roe V. Wade Looms: When Will Supreme Court Issue Opinion?

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a strict New York gun law Thursday and handed down several other opinions, leaving Americans to wait at least another day before learning if the conservative court will end a half-century of abortion protection for

The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to issue another round of opinions at 10 a.m. EDT Friday

but it’s unclear if a decision in a Mississippi case that could end a half-century of abortion protection will be among them.

Abortion rights activists have been anxiously awaiting the court’s opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Mississippi case that could dismantle both Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling legalizing abortion, and Casey v. Planned Parenthood, a fetal viability case that affirmed Roe.

If the court doesn’t issue its opinion in Dobbs on Friday, it could do so next week as the justices work through high-profile cases in their October-to-June term.

• Related: Court Strikes Down New York Gun Law In Significant 2nd Amendment Ruling Since 2008

The Dobbs case centers on Mississippi’s 15-week ban on abortion. In May, Justice Samuel Alito Jr. said Roe was “egregiously wrong from the start,” according to a majority opinion draft that was leaked to Politico. As the opinion was written at the time of the historic leak, the justices would send the issue back to the states to decide, setting the stage for a patchwork of abortion laws across the country.

The court announces the days it will release opinions but does not give advance notice on which ones will be cleared from the docket, in what has been a busy term.

• Related: Striking Down Roe V. Wade Would Cause Seismic Shift In Abortion Policy

Nine cases are yet to be decided. In addition to Dobbs, other high-profile cases include:

• Biden v. Texas, on the Biden administration’s decision to end the Trump administration’s signature “remain in Mexico” policy requiring asylum seekers to remain in Mexico until their hearings in U.S. immigration courts.

• Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, in which the justices will decide if a Washington public school violated the rights of football coach Joseph A. Kennedy, who prayed with his students at a game on a public football field.

It’s yet unclear when the final day of the term will be, though justices try to announce all opinions and orders by the end of the month. In both 2019 and 2020, though, the final opinions of the term came in early July, according to SCOTUSblog.com, an independent analysis of Supreme Court proceedings written by lawyers, law professors and law students.