An Assessment of the Reasoning in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization

Abstract

While the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson is a cause for rejoicing, it is at the same time a cause for frustration, as it is maddeningly incomplete. This article examines a central problem with the Court’s decision in Dobbs: its studied refusal to take up the question of the personhood of a fetus, and thus its entitlement to rights and protections under law. While the Court in Dobbs sensibly demolished the notion that there is some kind of natural right to abortion in the U.S. Constitution, and thus sent the matter back to the states, the problem of abortion in America still remains. This article presents a number of the problems that the Dobbs decision brings in its wake, and indicates that pro-lifers will still have a great deal of work to do to address them.