Carliss Chatman is an assistant professor of law at Washington and Lee University School of Law and writes about corporate personhood, corporate governance, and ethics. Follow her on Twitter @carlissc.

(CNN) Last week, Georgia joined the ranks of states in a sudden rush to ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks after conception -- before a woman may even know that she is pregnant. Kentucky, Mississippi, and Ohio passed similar laws this year. Alabama is taking its fight against choice even further, with a bill that not only bans abortions but makes it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion.

Carliss Chatman

Why the rush to pass legislation that will face an inevitable challenge from civil liberties, civil rights, and womens' rights organizations? Because anti-choice legislators believe they will face a friendly bench in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court, first in Roe v. Wade in 1973, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, and yet again in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt in 2016, has made it clear that placing an undue burden on a woman's right to choose an abortion before a fetus reaches viability (typically 23-24 weeks) is unconstitutional. The precedent is clear in three cases spanning 46 years. But today's Supreme Court finally has five conservatives whom anti-choice advocates hope will ignore the legal history and rule based on their politics and personal beliefs.

Tennessee, More states -- including South Carolina Louisiana , and Texas all hope to join the fight to overturn Roe. Louisiana currently has a six-week ban and a constitutional amendment that would narrow the state's existing right to privacy provision to exclude abortion pending in its legislature. The constitutional amendment is likely to pass early next week and the six-week ban shortly thereafter. In Texas, there are numerous onerous restrictions pending before its legislature this session -- in spite of having its most recent attempts to restrict abortion access struck down in the Hellerstedt opinion.

The hope that the third branch of our government will maintain its principles feels farfetched in the current climate.

Read More