The Supreme Court has announced its decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case, ruling in a split 6-3 decision that individual states have the right to regulate abortion.
This decision effectively overturned the precedent set by the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case, which has been used for nearly 50 years to establish the right to an abortion, and the 1992 Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey case that supported it.
Melissa Murray, a law professor at New York University, told NPR that “Roe and Casey are the twin pillars of the court’s jurisprudence” on abortion.
Today’s Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health upheld a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. In its ruling, the conservative majority said the Roe decision was “egregiously wrong” in recognizing abortion as a constitutional right.
The Court argued that the Casey case completely skipped over the question of whether the Constitution, when properly understood, confers a right to abortion, and the Court at that time made a ruling based on precedent.
The Casey Court grounded its decision solely on the theory that the right to an abortion is part of the “liberty” protected by the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection clause.
However, today’s Supreme Court decision found that the State’s regulation of abortion is not a sex-based classification and is thus not subject to the heightened scrutiny that applies to such classifications. The opinion determined that regulations and prohibitions of abortion are governed by the same standard of review as other health and safety measures.
The Court also found that the right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the nation’s history and tradition and is therefore not a component of “ordered liberty” under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Today’s ruling gives the individual States wide latitude to restrict or allow abortion as they see fit.
The announcement of the Court’s decision on Friday was met with immediate reaction by both supporters and critics.
Naral Pro-Choice America posted on its social media site: “The Supreme Court just overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the Constitutional right to abortion for millions across the country. We share your hurt, anger, and confusion. We are in this fight together.”
“The Decision today is quite disappointing, it puts in danger a lot of women, especially poor women, we must not allow the attacks on women to continue, it’s time we fight back stronger than ever,“ Nicolas Quintanilla, president of Young Latino Democrats of Dallas, wrote in an email to The Dallas Express.
Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, provided The Dallas Express with the following statement:
“Abortion is health care, and health care is a human right. Today’s Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization strips away the constitutional protection of a fundamental human right from all women in the United States. The immediate result will be the imposition of outright abortion bans in 14 states, with many other states likely to follow soon afterwards.”
A political strategist for the Downtown Dallas Dems, Randal Bryant, wrote to The Dallas Express, “The overturning of Roe V. Wade is a major step-back for our country and especially for Texans, as women are no longer federally protected and the decision of Women’s Rights will now be left up to the states. This must be a rally cry for Democrats in the November election.”
He continued, “With this new decision, if we don’t take the governor’s seat or flip the house, it would not surprise me if bills are filed in the upcoming session to outright ban abortions and pass.”
Cora Black with Dallas County Young Democrats, told The Dallas Express, “Republicans stole the Supreme Court and, today, the 6-3 right-wing Court has begun stealing our rights. Justice Thomas is not hiding the ball—next on the chopping block is access to contraception, same-sex relationships, and marriage equality.
“Today, our hearts break for the women in Texas whose rights have been stripped away and who now face incredible obstacles and the specter of $10,000 bounties. Tomorrow, we get back to work organizing for the November midterms like our lives and freedoms depend on it . . . because they do.”
Texas State Reps. Briscoe Cain and Matt Shaheen expressed their approval of the decision to The Dallas Express.
“Finally, the Supreme Court has reversed its most egregious wrong. The statutes at issue in Roe were never repealed. They are back in effect today. Abortion is outlawed except to save the life of the mother. The [Texas] trigger bill takes effect in 30 days,” said Rep. Cain.
Rep. Shaheen commented, “Today, little babies across America now have the God-given right to life. These precious children of God will grow up to live extraordinary lives, and we will be a better society as a result.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton provided statements to The Dallas Express praising the ruling.
“Media estimates report that as many as 62 million innocent lives have been ended since the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in 1973. Words cannot do that unfathomable number justice. The left will surely fight to keep the abortion industry alive in Texas, but they will fail,” wrote Lt. Gov. Patrick.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling is an acknowledgement (sic) of the truth: when an abortion is performed, a human life is ended. This watershed victory is not just a victory for innocent life, but a victory for all of humanity,” he added.
AG Paxton asserted, “Roe v. Wade and its successor case Planned Parenthood v. Casey have absolutely no basis in the U.S. Constitution.”
“Nevertheless,” he said, “for half a century, Americans have had to live under these illegitimate, illegal, and unconstitutional dictates of a partisan, willful Supreme Court. No more. Today, the question of abortion returns to the states. And in Texas, that question has already been answered: abortion is illegal here. I look forward to defending the pro-life laws of Texas and the lives of all unborn children moving forward.”
“This is a momentous day for life,” said Geralyn Kaminsky, executive director of the Catholic Pro-Life Community.
“This decision corrects an egregious wrong and returns authority over abortion laws back to individual states. We are so proud of our lawmakers who have led the way in making Texas a pro-life state,” said Kaminsky. “But our work is not done yet, far from it. We have a responsibility to walk with moms who believed that abortion was their only option, and we will walk with them until they can walk on their own!”
A little-known group calling itself Jane’s Revenge previously distributed leaflets around Washington, D.C., and online, proposing “a night of rage, looting, burning, rioting if Roe is overturned,” according to Al Jazeera reporter Kimberly Halkett.
“Night of Rage” was trending on Twitter Friday morning.
The Department of Homeland Security has urged the Catholic Church to increase security measures across the country, warning that an “extremist group” had called for attacks on churches if the Court ruled as it did today.