On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court released its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, holding that the constitution does not confer a right to abortion and overturning two previous cases, Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. In a 6-3 decision written by Justice Alito, the Court held that abortion is no longer constitutionally protected. The authority to regulate abortion is returned to the states. 

The decision is monumental, both as a constitutional matter and as a decision that will affect women’s health care. On Thursday, two law professors from UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law will provide an overview of the decision and give context to the implications of the decision. Professor John Greabe, head of the Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership and Public Service, will discuss the constitutional underpinnings of the decision and the implications for other rights, including the rights to contraception and gay marriage. Professor Lucy Hodder, director of the UNH Franklin Pierce Health Law Program and the Institute for Health Policy and Practice, and former Legal Counsel and Senior Health Policy Adviser to New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan, will explain the decision’s implication for women’s access to reproductive services, and broader implications for health care in the United States.