Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization , No. 19-1392 , 597 U.S. ___ (2022), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the court held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion . The court's decision overruled both Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), returning to individual states the power to regulate any aspect of abortion not protected by federal law.
The case concerned the constitutionality of a 2018 Mississippi state law that banned most abortion operations after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy . The Mississippi law was based on a model by a Christian legal organization, Alliance Defending Freedom , with the specific intent to provoke a legal battle leading to the overturning of Roe . Jackson Women's Health Organization —Mississippi's only abortion clinic—had sued Thomas E. Dobbs , state health officer with the Mississippi State Department of Health ,
The ideological shift of the Supreme Court during the Trump administration that culminated with the 2020 appointment of Justice Amy Coney Barrett made Dobbs a potential vehicle for social conservatives to challenge Roe . [1] [2] Several states passed legislation—including trigger laws —to strictly regulate abortion should the newly conservative court overturn Roe . Dobbs gained more attention in the wake of legal battles over the Texas Heartbeat Act , enacted in May 2021, leading to near record-setting amic