Roe at 52: The decision that centralized power over abortion law, and the Dobbs ruling that gave it back

By SUZANNE DOWNING

On Jan. 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision that would reshape American law, medicine, culture, and politics for nearly half a century.

In Roe v. Wade, the Court declared that most state abortion laws were unconstitutional, creating a nationwide right to abortion that overrode state statutes and local traditions.

Writing for the majority, Justice Harry Blackmun argued that criminalizing abortion lacked deep historical grounding, stating it did not have “roots in the English common law tradition.”  Abortion, the Court held, was not meaningfully constrained by longstanding legal precedent and therefore could be constitutionally protected as a matter of privacy. The unborn were not yet human.

But that historical framing was always limited. English common law had evolved over centuries, and its silence on certain practices was often less about moral approval and more about the difficulty of proof, medical uncertainty, and even the absence of modern forensics.

Over time, Roe’s constitutional logic expanded far beyond early pregnancy, producing legal interpretations that allowed abortion access even in late stages of pregnancy, including circumstances where a child had entered the birth canal, which is allowed in Alaska, a reality that shocks many Americans who believed Roe was narrowly confined to early gestation.

For nearly 50 years, Roe imposed that single national standard, regardless of regional values, legal traditions, or voter preferences. Between 1972 and 2020, over 600 million abortions were performed in the United States, according to the Guttmacher Institute and the CDC.

That era ended in June 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The 6–3 decision returned abortion policy to the states, restoring their authority to regulate, restrict, protect, or ban the procedure according to their own laws and state constitutions. The Dobbs ruling came right in the middle of the presidential election cycle and may have motivated many Democrats to head to the polls.

Today, abortion is completely illegal, with limited exceptions, in 12 states. Ten states with “trigger laws” automatically banned abortion after Roe fell. Indiana and West Virginia passed new full bans through legislation.

Other states, including Georgia, enacted six-week bans, effectively limiting abortion to roughly two weeks after a missed period. In much of the Southeast, access is now extremely limited; North Carolina stands as the only state in that region allowing abortion after six weeks, with a 12-week cutoff.

Other states moved in the opposite direction. Kansas voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have allowed abortion bans. Michigan, California, and Vermont enshrined abortion rights in their constitutions. Minnesota passed statutory protections guaranteeing abortion access. States such as Oregon and New Mexico adopted expansive legal protections, allowing abortion with few or no gestational limits.

Even traditionally liberal states maintain boundaries. California, Washington, and New York all impose a 24-week gestational cutoff, aligning with viability standards rather than unlimited access.

Alaska? Abortion unlimited, even allowed while the baby is in the birth canal.

Multiple attempts to enact limits, including parental notification requirements for minors, have failed. In one of the most controversial rulings in state history, the Alaska Supreme Court struck down parental notification laws as unconstitutional, even after Alaska voters approved them. The court interpreted the state constitution’s privacy clause as providing broader abortion protections than those that existed under Roe at the federal level.

The result is a paradox: Alaska, a state known for its libertarian ethos and skepticism of government power, has one of the most permissive abortion regimes in the country. In that sense, its abortion policy reflects not progressive ideology so much as a radical form of legal autonomy, where individual choice is elevated above legislative restraint and above a human being’s right to life.

Since Dobbs, this divergence has become the defining feature of American abortion law.

Supporters of Roe once argued that national uniformity was necessary to protect rights. Supporters of Dobbs argue that democracy, federalism, and self-governance require local control, even when outcomes differ sharply.

Every year, the Roe v. Wade decision is remembered by pro-life Americans in an annual observance. This year, that tradition continues on Friday, Jan. 23 for the 53rd annual March for Life in the nation’s capital, and on nearby dates in cities around the country.