Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

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U.S. Supreme Court2022Modern EraCourt Case

Why It Matters

Overturned Roe v. Wade after 49 years, holding that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion and returning the question to the people's elected representatives. A landmark of federalism and states' rights: authority over abortion law shifted back to the states, whose laws now differ widely. The ruling reopened enduring constitutional questions — how unenumerated rights are recognized, when precedent should stand, and which decisions belong to courts versus voters — questions on which Americans remain deeply and sincerely divided.

Official Text

Opinions Opinion (Alito) Concurrence (Thomas) Concurrence (Kavanaugh) Concurrence (Roberts) Dissent (Kagan) NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES _________________ No. 19–1392 _________________ THOMAS E. DOBBS, STATE HEALTH OFFICER OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, et al., PETITIONERS v. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION, et al. on writ of certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the fifth circuit [June 24, 2022] Justice Alito delivered the opinion of the Court. Abortion presents a profound moral issue on which Americans hold sharply conflicting views. Some believe fervently that a human person comes into being at conception and that abortion ends an innocent life. Others feel just as strongly that any regulation of abortion invades a woman’s right to control her own body and prevents women from achieving full equality. Still others in a third group think that abortion should be allowed under some but not all circumstances, and those within this group hold a variety of views about the particular restrictions that should be imposed. For the first 185 years after the adoption of the …

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Provenance

Source Note
Full opinion text via Justia; Supreme Court opinions are public domain.
License
Public domain (edicts of government; U.S. Supreme Court opinion)
Length
65,082 words
Retrieved
Fri, 03 Jul 2026 14:17:08 GMT
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