For the first time in almost half a century, Roe v. Wade and its progeny are being challenged in an unprecedented manner in both state legislatures and at the United States Supreme Court. Each year, hundreds of laws are introduced by state legislatures seeking to limit or prohibit access to reproductive health care. Recent laws, like Texas Senate Bill 8, have taken dangerous steps to not only end access to abortion care after 6 weeks but also to undermine the rule of law by creating schemes that delegate enforcement and bounties in an effort to avoid judicial review. Additionally, Mississippi’s 15 week-ban is a direct assault on Roe and a case in which the state is asking the Supreme Court to overturn over five decades of precedent. Today, for the first time in fifty years, people in large areas of the South are without access to abortion care.
This discussion touches on current cases before the Supreme Court, Dobbs v. Jackson Women Health Organization and Whole Woman’s Health v. Texas, and its impact on patients, providers, people’s constitutional rights, and the rule of law.