[U: TX -- On Wed. Night] I'm Not Deeply Concerned That The Supremes Took The Mississippi Abortion Case On Cert., This Morning.

Ever looking for a grand-standing political wedge issue, the GOP Governor of Texas signed an executive order (not even an act of the Texas legislature!) this afternoon -- which purports to effectively ban all abortions in that backwater state -- since it is practically impossible to get one, until you know you are. . . pregnant. His lawless action would ban any abortion if a heartbeat can be detected.

That would be around twenty days after fertilization of the egg, in most cases (i.e., in all likelihood, one would not know one was. . . pregnant). To say this exceeds any authority he might possess, is an egregious understatement. Roe v. Wade and dozens of Supremes' cases after it clearly hold that first trimester abortions are a fundamental liberty, and personal privacy right -- that may not be unduly burdened by the states. He will lose in court here -- he will be enjoined, shortly, in either Dallas or Houston. Trust that. End update. Now we need a graphic -- so here one is, at right.

I won't run a graphic -- or belabor the point -- but I do not expect the Mississippi case will ultimately result in any real curtailment of a woman's right to choose -- about what happens to her own body, either. That is all I've got this morning -- but it is good headline fodder, to sell papers.

[Multiple other opinions are being announced and live blogged right now, so do tune in at Scotusblog.]

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