Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health
Issue: Are all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions unconstitutional?
Background: In 2018, Mississippi passed a state law that banned all abortions, with a few exceptions, after 15 weeks of gestational age. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which was the only licensed abortion facility in Mississippi, and one of its doctors filed a lawsuit in federal court that challenged the law.
In a 6:3 opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. The majority noted that the Constitution does not mention abortion and that the right is neither deeply rooted in the nation’s history nor an essential component of “ordered liberty.” Furthermore, the majority found that the precedents of Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, should be overruled because those cases “short-circuited the democratic process”; lacked grounding in constitutional text, history, or precedent; established tests that were not “workable”; and caused distortion of law in other areas. Finally, the majority found that overruling Roe and Casey would not upend concrete reliance interests.
Current Status: Final decision issued
U.S. Supreme Court Amicus Brief, Sept. 20, 2021
Amici: American Public Health Association, the Guttmacher Institute, the Center for U.S. Policy, and 547 public health deans and scholars.
Argument Summary: The ability to safely and legally terminate a pregnancy is both an individual constitutional right and a public health concern. Mississippi's unconstitutional pre-viability ban threatens public health in Mississippi and beyond, by forcing women to forgo a recognized and fundamental constitutional right to control their own health and to make for themselves and their families – in consultation with their health professional – intimate and personal choices free from state interference. Mississippi’s pre-viability ban goes against settled constitutional law and ignores the significant burdens and multiple public health risks this ban creates.
Abortion is an essential component of the full continuum of reproductive healthcare and a basic means of avoiding the adverse effects of unintended pregnancy, playing an essential role in women’s health and of importance to healthy pregnancies and childbirth. Bans will disproportionately affect young women, women of color, and low-income women who live in families and communities already vulnerable to elevated health and social risks and reduced access to necessary healthcare.
Children of women who experience unintended pregnancies face greater risks to life and health, including pre-term birth, low birth weight, and impaired child development, and are more likely to suffer adverse child experiences with lifelong consequences, including violence, parental mental health challenges, and elevated rates of death, divorce, or separation. At the heart of this case is a key paradox: Mississippi and thirteen other states with the nation’s extensive abortion restrictions invest the least in the policies and programs of proven importance and value to the health of women and children and show the worst health outcomes for mothers, infants, and children, especially when compared to states with greater abortion access.
Outside Counsel: Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP
Citations:
Our brief was cited six times by the Dobbs dissent:
Mississippi “has strict eligibility requirements for Medicaid and nutrition assistance, leaving many women and families without basic medical care or enough food. See Brief for 547 Deans, Chairs, Scholars and Public Health Professionals et al. as Amici Curiae 32–34 (Brief for 547 Deans).” Slip opin. at 41.
“It is approximately 75 times more dangerous for a woman in the State to carry a pregnancy to term than to have an abortion. See Brief for 547 Deans 9–10.” Slip opin. at 42.
“But a state-by-state analysis by public health professionals shows that States with the most restrictive abortion policies also continue to invest the least in women’s and children’s health. See Brief for 547 Deans 23–34.” Slip opin. at 42.
“The facts are: 45 percent of pregnancies in the United States are unplanned. See Brief for 547 Deans 5. Even the most effective contraceptives fail, and effective contraceptives are not universally accessible. See Brief for 547 Deans 6–7 (noting that 51 percent of women who terminated their pregnancies reported using contraceptives during the month in which they conceived). . . “ Slip opin. at 49, n.24.
“Women living below the federal poverty line experience unintended pregnancies at rates five times higher than higher income women do, and nearly half of women who seek abortion care live in households below the poverty line. See Brief for 547 Deans 7. . .” Slip opin. at 50.
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org., No 19-1392, 597 U.S. ___ (2022) (Breyer, dissenting), https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf
Related Resources:
GW Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health. Amicus Brief Tells Supreme Court Abortion is an Essential Component of Reproductive Health. September 28, 2021.
Rosenbaum S, Keith K, Jost T. The United States Supreme Court ends the constitutional right to abortion. To the Point (blog). Commonwealth Fund. June 27, 2022. https://doi.org/10.26099/t080-cg68
Rosenbaum S, Jost T, Keith K. Dobbs: The Immediate Aftermath and the Coming Legal Morass. To the Point (blog). Commonwealth Fund, June 27, 2022. https://doi.org/10.26099/tc5q-jm32
Brindis C, Laitner M, Clayton E, Scrimshaw S, Grosz B, Simpson L, Rosenbaum S, Brierley C, Simon M, Roubideaux Y, Calonge B, Johnson P, Destefano L, Bear A, Arora K, Dzau V. Societal implications of the Dobbs v JacksonWomen's Health Organization decision. The Lancet. June 22,2024. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00534-8/abstract
Brindis C, Laitner M, Clayton E, Scrimshaw S, Grosz B, Simpson L, Rosenbaum S, Brierley C, Simon M, Roubideaux Y, Calonge B, Johnson P, Destefano L, Bear A, Arora K, Dzau V. Health-care workforce implications of the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. The Lancet. June 22, 2024. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00581-6/abstract