You're listening to Shorewave from NPR.

Hey, Shorewaveers, Emily Kwong here.

We're picking up our conversation with Liza Fuenteis, a senior research scientist at the

Gootmacher Institute.

Go back and listen to part one if you missed it, where we discussed how abortion fits into

healthcare and public health.

In part two, we're going to discuss what that actually looks like in practice.

A practice that's likely to shift in communities across the US, depending on the outcome of a

Supreme Court case, dobs versus Jackson Women's Health Organization.

It deals with a Mississippi law that shortened the window for abortion from 20 weeks to 15.

The Jackson Clinic is the only abortion provider in the state.

Currently, under the 1973 ruling known as Roe v Wade, women are guaranteed the right

to have an abortion up until fetal viability.

The time when a fetus can survive outside the womb.

And if the court upholds the 15-week Mississippi abortion ban, it erodes the constitutional

right to abortion that was established by Roe, then each state would decide for itself

how to regulate abortion access.

Liza says this would have an immediate impact on families throughout the US.

The ability to decide if, when and how to have a child is integral to people being

able to have not just realize their health, but that of their families, right?

A denied abortion at the very least could be economically devastating for a family that's

already struggling to make ends meet.

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