Discussion Group 3 South

THE CURRENT LEGAL BATTLES OVER ABORTION

It is not clear whether the Supreme Court will uphold, overrule, or significantly modify its holdings in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992) before the end of its present term in late June or early July of 2022. There are several pending abortion cases in the Supreme Court and elsewhere. In this session, we will discuss and evaluate the issues posed by these cases and their possible or probable outcomes.

REFERENCES (not required reading):

Rob Boston, “The End of Roe? If Legal Abortion Is Overturned, Expect an Onslaught by Christian Nationalist Groups,” July–August 2020 Church–State Magazine, https://au.org/church-state/july-august-2021-church-state-magazine/featured/the-end-of-roe-if-legal-abortion-is.

Sophia Bollag, “Gavin Newsom Calls for Bill Modeled on Texas Abortion Ban to Crack Down on Gun Manufacturers,” Sacramento Bee, December 12, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article256524466.html.

Summary of Roe v. Wade and related U.S. Supreme Court cases before and after that decision: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade. Text of Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973): https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/410/113.

Summary of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_Parenthood_v._Casey. Text of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992): https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/91-744.ZS.html.

Summary of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (pending in U.S. Supreme Court): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobbs_v._Jackson_Women%27s_Health_Organization.

Transcript of December 1, 2021 oral argument in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2021/19-1392_gfbi.pdf.

Text of Van Stean v. Texas Right to Life, Travis County (Texas) District Court, December 9, 2021 (holding that the Texas abortion law violates the Texas Constitution): https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/920b14142fddf95336846f41357941d6/State%20judge%20order%20on%2014%20lawsuits%20challenging%20Texas%20abortion%20law.pdf?_ga=2.231737435.574683723.1639093052-1548702602.1639093052.

Discussion Groups are moderated forums with pre-selected topics. Anyone who wishes to participate in the civil discussions is welcome to do so. The groups nominally represent different geographical locations and will morph back into geographically located in-person discussions when we can do so, for now we meet using zoom. They are currently held every Thursday. The topic for each discussion is announced in advance, sometimes with recommended reading.