Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: What Is the Future of Abortion Access After the Fall of Roe v. Wade?

In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, and held that abortion is no longer a fundamental constitutional right under the Substantive Due Process Clause to the U.S. Constitution. Instead, under the federal Constitution, abortion restrictions will be subject to rational basis review. After Dobbs was decided, there has been a flurry of litigation in state courts, as well as a tremendous push for policy changes.

Specific issues to be addressed include:

• Review of the holding of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (10 minutes)
• Discussion of federal constitutional challenges unaffected by Dobbs (5 minutes)
• Discussion of challenges in state courts to pre-Roe abortion bans, “trigger” abortion bans, and six-week abortion bans (20 minutes)
• Review of the various policy efforts in the states, including ballot initiatives and state legislation (10 minutes)
• Discussion of the federal policy initiatives, including executive orders and federal reproductive health care task force (5 minutes)
• Efforts to prohibit people from leaving their state to access abortion; push for a nationwide abortion ban; efforts to limit access to contraception (5 minutes)
• How attorneys can engage pro bono (5 minutes)

Program Level: Update

Prerequisites: None

Advanced Preparation: None

Faculty:

Brigitte Amiri