Judgments

Dobbs Vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization : Constitution Does Not Grant Right To Abortion

In Dobbs Vs. Jackson (2022) Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court overruled Roe Vs Wade   and held that the Constitution of USA does not grant right to abortion.

What were facts of Dobbs Vs. Jackson ?

Mississippi State Legislature passed Gestational Age Act which prohibited all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Jackson Womens’s Health Orgnisation challenged the constitutionality of law before Federal District Court. The court invalidated the Act on the ground that State cannot ban abortion before the point of fetal viability which is around 24 weeks. The decision of the District Court was upheld by the US Court of Appeals of the Fifth Circuit. The case finally reached to Federal Supreme Court.

What were findings of Supreme Court in Dobbs Vs. jackson ?

The Supreme Court observed that in Roe Vs Wade the Court had wrongly appreciated historical facts. The  Supreme Court noted that an unbroken tradition of prohibiting abortion on pain of criminal punishment persisted from the earliest days of the common law until 1973. The Supreme Court also held that  Roe Vs Wade was misguided in its finding that the right of personal privacy which is founded in the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy. The Supreme Court observed that judicial precedents which recognized various rights related to sex, marriage, and family as implicit in the right to privacy or in the liberty protected by the due process clause were not analogous to the Roe case because none of them involved the destruction of “potential” or “fetal” life. President Joe Biden criticized the judgment and said that it was a sad day for the Court and the Country. Donald Trump appreciated the decision and said that the biggest win for life in generation.

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Mukesh Kumar Suman is an advocate and legal author based at Delhi. He regularly appears before various Judicial Forums including NCLT, NCLAT, High Courts and the Supreme Court. He can be approached at mukesh_suman@outlook.com or +91 9717864570.

Mukesh Kumar Suman

Mukesh Kumar Suman

Mukesh Kumar Suman is an advocate based at Delhi. He has rich experience in civil, criminal, commercial, arbitration and corporate insolvency matters. He regularly appears before District Courts, NCLT, NCLAT, High Court and the Supreme Court. He can be approached at mukesh_suman@outlook.com or +91 9717864570.

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