Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022)

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) is a landmark decision by the US Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade (1973). With a 6–3 vote, the highly publicized decision stated that the US Constitution does not confer the right to have an abortion. The case stemmed from a 2018 Mississippi state law that denied most abortions after the first fifteen weeks of pregnancy. The June 24, 2022, ruling returned power to the states to determine the legality of abortions. An individual state may now choose to ban all abortions or place heavy restrictions on them. The decision was considered a major victory for the Christian right and many Republicans.

Background

In 1970, Norma McCorvey, under the name Jane Roe, filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas. The case Roe v. Wade (1973) challenged a law in Texas making abortion illegal except when a woman’s life was in jeopardy. McCorvey, who was pregnant with her third child, wanted to terminate her pregnancy but could not because she lived in Texas. Her attorneys argued for their client’s right to privacy, stating that the state law violated her Fourteenth Amendment rights. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court issued a 7–2 decision in favor of Roe. In his majority opinion, Justice Harry Blackmun wrote that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment did protect the right to privacy, and a woman’s right to an abortion falls under that privacy. With that, Roe v Wade became one of the most well-known Supreme Court rulings, though the divide and debate between pro-choice and pro-life advocates continued until it was eventually overturned.

In 2018, Mississippi passed the “Gestational Age Act,” which banned all abortions (with few exceptions) after fifteen weeks gestational age. The Jackson Women’s Health Organization was the state’s only licensed abortion facility. The organization filed a lawsuit in federal district court against Thomas E. Dobbs, a health officer with the state Department of Health. The suit challenged the law and requested a temporary restraining order. The order was awarded, and the court stopped enforcing the law, stating that the state did not prove that the fetus would be viable at fifteen weeks. Past precedent prohibited states from banning abortions prior to the viability of the fetus. The state appealed the decision in 2019, and the request for a new hearing was denied. In June 2020, the state petitioned the circuit court decision to the Supreme Court, seeking review of viability standards.

Almost 150 amici curiae (friends of the court) briefs were submitted prior to oral arguments. Briefs supported both sides, as well as no side, and came from various political ideologies. The briefs were initiated by states, interest groups, and organizations, as well as individual politicians and the states themselves. The case was heard on December 1, 2021. The attorney for the Jackson Women’s Health Organization argued that the viability standard was correct and applied appropriately in the courts. Mississippi’s solicitor general conversely argued that new evidence had come to light since the Roe decision. Advances in science allowed individuals to better see fetuses and note when they are viable. On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court issued its 6–3 decision reversing the circuit court’s decision and remanded the case for further review. Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority decision. He was joined by justices Clarence Thomas, Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch. With that decision, the justices argued that abortion was not a protected right under the Constitution. Chief Justice John Roberts concurred in the judgment. Justices Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor dissented. Though the decision was announced in June, the media company Politico released a draft of Alito’s majority opinion in May. No draft decisions in recent history have been released while a case was still pending. Other opinions (dissenting or concurring) were not made public at that time.

After learning of the leak, response was swift. Planned Parenthood organized hundreds of marches. Other groups that had events already prepared or in-progress moved up their dates. Protests took place outside the homes of the justices, and fear of violence was widespread. At a time when the country was at odds with the expected-Supreme Court decision, the leak unified the nation through disgust—Republicans for how the leak was able to happen, and Democrats for its content. Also in June 2022, a Gallop poll found that only 25 percent of those polled had confidence in the Supreme Court, the lowest percentage in nearly fifty years. Prior to 2022, the lowest confidence had been 30 percent in 2014, when overall confidence in US institutions also hit a low. The reduction in confidence was mostly due to Democrats and Independents who shifted from 30 to 13 percent and from 40 to 25 percent, respectively.

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The June 24 announcement fueled emotions on both sides. Conservative pro-lifers had been waiting for this decision for nearly fifty years. Pro-choice advocates had been aware of the possibility since Donald Trump was elected president. Prior to his election, Trump had promised his constituents that Roe v. Wade would be overturned if he was elected president, especially since he would be tasked with appointing justices. Three justices appointed by Trump were confirmed during his presidency: Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil M. Gorsuch. All three supported overturning Roe v. Wade and joined the majority opinion that placed the interests of the fetus above a woman’s right to choose.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s 2020 death, which gave Trump his third justice to appoint, further strengthened the momentum for overturning Roe v. Wade. Many thought the beloved justice should have retired during a democratic president’s term. Her death under Trump made possible the overturning of Roe. Still, others argued that even if Ginsburg were alive and on the Court, she may have agreed that Roe had not been properly decided. Ginsburg had criticized Roe’s decision. However, that criticism had more to do with the part of the Constitution protecting it—privacy or equal protection. Ginsburg had also questioned if the Roe v. Wade decision changed too much too fast, creating an extremely divisive environment.

Beyond the Supreme Court, support for abortion access is high. More the two-thirds of Americans support the Roe decision and 57 percent support a woman’s right to an abortion for any reason. However, the Dobbs decision may not be the end. Some Republican officials have said that they will support a federal ban on abortions if they are able to control the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the presidency. At the very least, roughly half the states are likely to ban—or drastically reduce—abortions.

Internationally, groups such as the Physicians for Human Rights countered by saying that making abortions illegal would not decrease the actual number of abortions. Rather, it would sharply decrease the number of safe abortions and increase the number of deaths. The Supreme Court decision also puts the United States in violation of international law and global health and human rights standards. The United States signed and ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Both require access to safe and legal abortions. The United Nations Human Rights Council had stated that the right to life does not begin at conception, and a woman’s right to life and privacy should be respected.

Throughout the world, men and women took to the streets and social media in solidarity for American women. International opinions on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) are important as other simultaneous events made knowledge of international laws more salient. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine increased interest and discussion about international law and talks of Russia’s violations began. Countries are more focused and committed to adhering to international agreements.

Bibliography

Biskupic, John. “Conservative Justices Seized the Moment and Delivered the Opinion They’d Long Promised.” CNN Politics, 25 June 2022, www.cnn.com/2022/06/24/politics/conservative-supreme-court-analysis-roe-dobbs/index.html. Accessed 21 July 2022.

Blake, Aaron. “What Ruth Bader Ginsburg Really Said About Roe v. Wade.” The Washington Post, 27 June 2022, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/27/what-ruth-bader-ginsburg-really-said-about-roe-v-wade/. Accessed 21 July 2022.

“Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.” Supreme Court of the United States, 24 June 2022, www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392‗6j37.pdf. Accessed 21 July 2022.

“Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.” ACLU, 27 June 2022, www.aclu.org/cases/dobbs-v-jackson-womens-health-organization. Accessed 21 July 2022.

“The Dobbs v. Jackson Decision Annotated.” The New York Times, 24 June 2022, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/24/us/politics/supreme-court-dobbs-jackson-analysis-roe-wade.html. Accessed 21 July 2022.

Erskine, Ellena. “We Read All the Amicus Briefs in Dobbs so You Don’t Have To.” SCOTUSblog, 30 Nov. 2021, https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/11/we-read-all-the-amicus-briefs-in-dobbs-so-you-dont-have-to/. Accessed 21 July 2022.

Gerstein, Josh & Ward, Alexander. “Supreme Court Has Voted to Overturn Abortion Rights, Draft Opinion Shows.” Politico, 2 May 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473. Accessed 22 July 2022.

Jones, Jeffrey. “Confidence in US Supreme Court Sinks to Historic Low.” Gallup, 23 June 2022, news.gallup.com/poll/394103/confidence-supreme-court-sinks-historic-low.aspx. Accessed 22 July 2022.

Mangan, Dan. “Trump: I’ll Appoint Supreme Court Justices to Overturn Roe v. Wade Abortion Case.” CNBC, 19 Oct. 2016, www.cnbc.com/2016/10/19/trump-ill-appoint-supreme-court-justices-to-overturn-roe-v-wade-abortion-case.html. Accessed 21 July 2022.

Tolentino, Jia. “We’re Not Going Back to a Time before Roe. We’re Going Somewhere Worse.” The New Yorker, 24 June 2022, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/07/04/we-are-not-going-back-to-the-time-before-roe-we-are-going-somewhere-worse. Accessed July 21, 2022.