This morning, the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson to overturn Roe v. Wade, the court case that had established a constitutional right to an abortion. This comes after a controversial leak of the Court’s draft decision back in May. The Court ruled 6-3, with Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Clarence Thomas as the majority, Justice John Roberts writing a concurring opinion, and Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kegan dissenting.
The official Slip Opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson is now published in HeinOnline.
What Lies Ahead
Thirteen states already have laws in place to take effect now that Roe is overturned. These states include Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. Thirteen other states are expected to ban or restrict abortion soon. You can review and compare current state laws on abortion in our National Survey of State Laws database.
In addition, Justice Thomas in his opinion stated that the court cases providing constitutional rights to same-sex marriage and access to contraception—Obergefell v. Hodges and Griswold v. Connecticut, respectively—should also be reconsidered.
The Hein Blog will continue to follow these events closely and share relevant and reliable content from within our databases.
