Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022) addressed which issue?

• A. Planned Parenthood v. Casey
• B. Roe v. Wade
• C. Lawrence v. Texas
• D. Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

Answer: (D)

The issue being tested is whether the Constitution protects a right to abortion and, if not, who may regulate abortion. In Dobbs, the Court held that there is no constitutional right to abortion. Because that right is not grounded in the Constitution, the decision to regulate or ban abortion is returned to the states, rather than being controlled by federal constitutional doctrine. This overruled the longstanding Roe v. Wade framework and its follow-up Casey decision, which had preserved a general right to abortion subject to certain limits. Context: Roe had recognized a right to abortion under the due process clause as part of a privacy interest, and Casey had allowed states to impose restrictions so long as they did not place an undue burden on a woman seeking an abortion. By rejecting those precedents, Dobbs shifts the authority to regulate abortion back to state legislatures. The other options involve different topics: Lawrence v. Texas deals with same-sex sexual conduct, and while Roe and Casey are related to the prior framework about abortion rights, the question asks what issue Dobbs addressed, which is the constitutional basis for abortion rights and their legal status, not the earlier cases themselves.