Understanding Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization

This course reviews the holding in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org. (2022). It clarifies the federal Supreme Court law on abortion post-Dobbs. This course also explores the implications of Dobbs for other family law controversies, including but not limited to contraception, marriage, procreation rights (including artificial reproductive technology), and parental rights. Finally, it briefly considers how Dobbs might affect the 2022 election and future congressional legislation.

Lawyers will learn the facts and holding of Dobbs. Additionally, attendees will learn how the Court’s interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Substantive Due Process Clause changed with Dobbs. Attendees will also learn how future family law controversies could be influenced by Dobbs. Lawyers who work with clients who may need or who provide abortion care will be most interested in this course. Additionally, anyone with a family, who practices family law, is interested in women’s rights, and is interested in civil rights more generally (including the rights of religious adherents) will benefit from this course. Finally, this course will benefit anyone interested in how Supreme Court abortion decisions influence politics.

This course will be taught to all levels of legal understanding and will briefly review basic First and Fourteenth Amendment provisions of the U.S. Constitution.

Learning Objectives:

• Comprehend how Dobbs overturned the legal standards established in Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parent of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey (1992) regarding medical abortion care. The course will begin with a brief summary of Roe and Casey before discussing the Dobbs facts and holding
• Understand how Dobbs affects the constitutional and (general) statutory rights of people who might become pregnant. They will briefly revisit First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment Constitutional guarantees
• Develop reasonable arguments that lawyers (who represent people engaged in abortion care, need abortion care, or regulate abortion care) would make in securing the rights of their clients or protecting their interests
• Predict how a court might resolve an issue between a client and the state
• Build upon a base knowledge of legal skills and substantive principles. More particularly, lawyers will learn to anticipate and solve problems resulting from the Dobbs decision
• Identify ethical conflicts and strategize about the appropriate resolution of those conflicts