UNITED STATES Supreme Court building (Flickr/Geoff Livingston).

The U.S. Supreme Court, after hearing arguments about a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, may be poised to not only uphold the law but also overturn the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

Both the Associated Press and The New York Times concluded that the questions asked by the justices suggested that the conservative majority of six – three of which were appointed by former President Donald Trump – were prepared to support strong curbs on abortion or a reversal of Roe v. Wade.

“Why should this court be the arbiter rather than Congress, the state legislatures, state supreme courts, the people being able to resolve this?” asked Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said “Will this institution survive the stench this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts?”

A decision on the case is not expected until June.

Stacey Abrams will try again in Georgia

STACEY ABRAMS (Wikipedia/Gage Skidmore).

Perhaps testing Georgia’s status as a “purple state,” Stacey Abrams announced Wednesday she would run again to become governor of that state.

Abrams, a Democrat who ran a close race in 2018 against Brian Kemp, made her announcement via Twitter, according to USA Today. “Opportunity and success in Georgia shouldn’t be determined by your ZIP code, background or access to power,” she stated in the tweet.

Kemp has announced he was going to seek re-election, but could face primary challenges.

Georgia has been a reliably “red” state for decades, but turned somewhat “blue” in 2020 when it went narrowly for Joe Biden and chose two Democrats for seats in the U.S. Senate.

Also in the news …

• The omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in the U.S. for the first time, according to United Press International. It was found in a patient who traveled from South Africa to San Francisco and tested positive on Monday.
• Ethan Crumbly, the teenager accused of a shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan that killed four children and wounded eight other people, will face charges of first degree murder, terrorism and other offenses. The county prosecutor will seek to charge Crumbly, 15, as an adult, and charges may also be brought against his parents.

Sports: Lockout for MLB coming?

The 2022 Major League Baseball season is still almost four months away, but a lockout – the management equivalent of a strike – is on the horizon. According to ESPN, negotiations ended on Wednesday just before the collective bargaining agreement between owners and the players’ association expires.

At issue are matters such as expanding the playoffs and free agency rules. Until labor peace is achieved, trades and free agent moves are frozen.

Weather: There are cooler days ahead

The West Orange County area will be getting a little taste of mild winter temperatures for the next few days. The daytime high on Thursday is forecast to be 69, with an overnight low of 50 under partly cloudy skies. The thermometer will drop to 67 (48) on Friday, and then to 65 (46) on Saturday. There’s a dense fog advisory through Thursday at 10 a.m. In the coastal Huntington Beach area, it’ll be even chillier with a Thursday high of 64 (54) turning to 63 (52) on Friday. Saturday will be slightly warmer at 64 (50). The fog advisory will apply there, too.

Finance: Omicron, Fed fears hit again

For the second consecutive day, worries about the potential impact of the omicron variant and Federal Reserve policies drove stock prices down on Wednesday. The S&P 500 fell 53.96 points (1.18 percent) to 4,513.04. The Dow dropped 461.68 points (1.34 percent) to 34,022.04 and Nasdaq was down 283.64 (1.83 percent) to 15,254.05.