On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States issued two pivotal rulings, Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, that fundamentally altered the legal framework surrounding abortion in the United States. These decisions collectively legalized elective abortion nationwide and established a constitutional basis for reproductive rights. Their impact has resonated throughout American society and legal systems for decades, culminating in their reversal by the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.
Roe v. Wade originated in Texas, where Norma McCorvey, under the pseudonym “Jane Roe,” challenged the state’s restrictive abortion laws, which permitted the procedure only when necessary to save the life of the mother. Unable to access a safe, legal abortion, McCorvey argued that the state’s laws violated her constitutional rights. In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in her favor, concluding that the right to privacy, as derived from the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, included a woman’s right to choose to terminate a pregnancy. Justice Harry Blackmun, writing for the majority, introduced a trimester framework to balance the individual’s rights with the state’s interests.
During the first trimester, the state could not impose regulations beyond requiring licensed physicians to perform the procedure. In the second trimester, states could enact regulations related to maternal health, while in the third trimester, once the fetus reached viability, states could restrict or ban abortion, except when necessary to protect the mother’s life or health. This landmark decision struck down many restrictive state laws, ensuring broader access to abortion across the country.
On the same day, the Court ruled on Doe v. Bolton, a case involving a Georgia law that limited abortion to cases of rape, severe fetal anomalies, or threats to the mother’s life or health, and required hospital committee approval and certification from two independent physicians. The Court found these provisions unconstitutional, concluding that they placed an undue burden on women seeking abortions. Furthermore, the decision expanded the definition of “health” to include physical, emotional, psychological, and familial factors, as well as the woman’s age. This broader interpretation meant that even post-viability abortions could be allowed if necessary to protect the woman’s well-being.
Together, these decisions created a comprehensive legal structure for abortion access, recognizing it as a constitutional right and restricting states’ abilities to impose significant barriers. Over the years, abortion rights remained a deeply polarizing issue in American politics. Numerous states passed laws testing the limits of these rulings, leading to subsequent Supreme Court cases such as Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992. Casey reaffirmed the essential holding of Roe but replaced the trimester framework with an “undue burden” standard, granting states more latitude in regulating abortion while maintaining the constitutional right.
Roe’s impact, however, lasted less than 50 years. On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned both decisions in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In a 6-3 decision, the Court upheld Mississippi’s law banning most abortions after 15 weeks and declared that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion.
Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion argued that Roe and Casey were erroneously decided and antidemocratic, returning the authority to regulate abortion to individual states and their legislatures. This ruling represented a major shift in constitutional interpretation, dismantling nearly fifty years of pro-rulings and leading to major victory for the pro-life movement.
