Justices signal they may toss Roe, allow new abortion limits

After hours of public arguments, the Supreme Court's justices will now embark on a private debate over what to do about possibly drastic abortion limits for pregnant women in the U.S. The justices will talk it over this week and hold a preliminary vote

WASHINGTON -- Historic Supreme Court arguments over abortion behind them, the justices soon will begin the work of crafting a decision that could dramatically limit abortion rights in the United States.

They will meet in private before the week ends and take an initial vote on whether to uphold Mississippi's ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. But it will be months before a decision is issued.

In nearly two hours of arguments Wednesday, the court's conservative majority indicated they would uphold the Mississippi law and allow states to ban abortion much earlier in pregnancy. The court may even overturn the nationwide right that has existed for nearly 50 years.

With hundreds of demonstrators outside chanting for and against, the justices heard arguments that could decide the fate of the court's historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion throughout the United States and its 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which reaffirmed Roe.