Fetal Personhood and the Judicial Erosion of Women's Rights Following Dobbs

Authors

Brendan Williams

Abstract

In Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its prior precedents recognizing a constitutional right to abortion, a recognition that began nearly a half-century before with its decision in Roe vs. Wade. In its granting certiorari in a case involving a Mississippi law restricting abortion, the New York Times reported that the Court majority took advantage of the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by allowing “Mississippi to perform a baitand-switch, widening what had been a narrower attempt to restrict abortion while she was alive into a full assault on Roe — the kind of move that has prompted dismissals of other cases.”

Recommended Citation

Brendan Williams, Fetal Personhood and the Judicial Erosion of Women's Rights Following Dobbs, 28 U.D.C. L. Rev. (2025).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.udc.edu/udclr/vol28/iss1/10