Webster v. Reproductive Health Services
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 26, 1989 Decided July 3, 1989
Full case name: William L. Webster, Attorney General of Missouri, et al. v. Reproductive Health Services, et al. Citations: 492 U.S. 490; 109 S. Ct. 3040; 106 L. Ed. 2d 410; 1989 U.S. LEXIS 3290; 57 U.S.L.W. 5023 Prior history: Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Holding
The Court approved a Missouri law that imposed restrictions on the use of state funds, facilities and employees in performing, assisting with, or counseling on abortions. The Supreme Court thus allowed for states to legislate in an area that had been previously been thought to be forbidden under Roe.
Court membership
Chief Justice: William Rehnquist Associate Justices: William J. Brennan, Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy
Case opinions
Majority by: Rehnquist (parts II-C) Joined by: unanimous Majority by: Rehnquist (parts I, II-A, II-B) Joined by: White, O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy Concurrence by: Rehnquist (parts II-D, III) Joined by: White, Kennedy Concurrence by: O'Connor Concurrence by: Scalia Concurrence/dissent by: Blackmun Joined by: Brennan, Marshall Concurrence/dissent by: Stevens
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. XIV

Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490 (1989), was a United States Supreme Court decision on July 3, 1989 that some believe in part compromised Roe v. Wade's protection of abortion rights. Specifically, it approved a Missouri law that imposed restrictions on the use of state funds, facilities and employees in performing, assisting with, or counseling on abortions. The Supreme Court thus allowed for states to legislate in an area that had been previously been thought to be forbidden under Roe. Image File history File links Seal_of_the_United_States_Supreme_Court. ... The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ... ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... William Hubbs Rehnquist (October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American lawyer, jurist, and a political figure, who served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States and later as the Chief Justice of the United States. ... William J. Brennan, official portrait, 1976. ... Byron White, official portrait. ... Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American jurist and the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. ... Justice Harry Blackmun Harry Andrew Blackmun (November 12, 1908 – March 4, 1999) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 to 1994. ... John Paul Stevens (born April 20, 1920) is an American jurist, and the senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. ... Sandra Day OConnor (born March 26, 1930) is an American jurist who served as the first female Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. ... Antonin Gregory Scalia (born March 11, 1936) is an American jurist and the second most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Anthony Kennedy For other people of the same name, see Anthony Kennedy (disambiguation). ... The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is one of the post-Civil War amendments and it includes the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. ... // Case citation is the system used in common law countries such as the United States, England and Wales, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and India to uniquely identify the location of past court cases in special series of books called reporters or law reports. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ... July 3 is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 181 days remaining. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Holding Texas laws criminalizing abortion violated womens Fourteenth Amendment right to choose whether to continue a pregnancy. ... The morality and legality of abortion are controversial topics. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Background of the case

The state of Missouri passed a law which, in its preamble, stated that "the life of each human being begins at conception" and "unborn children have protectable interests in life, health, and well-being". This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Equality and the balancing of interests under law is symbolised by a blindfold and weighing scales For other senses of this word, see Law (disambiguation). ... A spermatozoon fertilising an ovum Fertilisation or fertilization (also known as conception, fecundation and syngamy), is fusion of gametes to form a new organism of the same species. ...

The statute

1. required that all Missouri state laws be interpreted to provide unborn children with rights equal to those enjoyed by other persons, subject to limits imposed by the federal constitution, and federal court rulings;
2. prohibited government-employed doctors from aborting a fetus they believed to be viable;
3. prohibited the use of state employees or facilities to perform or assist abortions, except where the mother's life was in danger; and
4. prohibited the use of public funds, employees, or facilities to "encourage or counsel" a woman to have an abortion, except where her life was in danger.

The Federal District Court struck down the above provisions, and prohibited their enforcement. This decision was affirmed by the Court of Appeals, which ruled that above provisions violated Roe v. Wade and later Supreme Court decisions. William L. Webster, then Attorney General for the state of Missouri, appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. It was argued before the Court on April 26, 1989. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Map of the boundaries of the United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. ... The United States Courts of Appeals (or circuit courts) are the mid-level appellate courts of the United States federal court system. ... Holding Texas laws criminalizing abortion violated womens Fourteenth Amendment right to choose whether to continue a pregnancy. ... The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ... ... In most common law jurisdictions, the Attorney General is the main legal adviser to the government, and in some jurisdictions may in addition have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ... April 26 is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (117th in leap years). ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Supreme Court's decision

The Supreme Court overturned the decision of the lower court, stating that: The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ...

1. The court did not need to consider the constitutionality of the law's preamble, as it is not used to justify any abortion regulation otherwise invalid under Roe v. Wade.
2. The prohibitions on the use of public employees, facilities, and funds did not violate any of the Court's abortion decisions, as no affirmative right to the use of state aid for nontherapeutic abortions existed. The state could allocate resources in favor of childbirth over abortion if it so chose.
3. Provisions requiring testing for viability after 20 weeks of pregnancy were constitutional, but those limiting abortions in the second trimester of pregnancy were unconstitutional.

Holding Texas laws criminalizing abortion violated womens Fourteenth Amendment right to choose whether to continue a pregnancy. ... The human gestation period of approximately 40 weeks between the time of the last menstrual cycle and delivery is traditionally divided into three periods of three months, or trimesters. ...

The concurrences

Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Antonin Scalia wrote separate concurring opinions. O'Connor claimed that overturning Roe v. Wade in the context of the Webster litigation, where upholding Missouri's law could arguably be squared with Roe, would violate an important principle of judicial restraint. She then explained that she voted to uphold Missouri's law because she did not feel that it would place an undue burden on the right to abortion. Sandra Day OConnor (born March 26, 1930) is an American jurist who served as the first female Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. ... Antonin Gregory Scalia (born March 11, 1936) is an American jurist and the second most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. ... Holding Texas laws criminalizing abortion violated womens Fourteenth Amendment right to choose whether to continue a pregnancy. ...

Scalia, who was angered by the refusal of the plurality, especially O'Connor, to overturn Roe v. Wade, wrote a sharp opinion concurring in the judgment. In his concurrence, he argued that the Court should have overturned Roe, rather than attempting to uphold both Roe and the laws at issue, and he attacked O'Connor's justification for declining to overturn Roe.

References

• "Webster v. Reproductive Health Services" on Wikisource.
• Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490 (1989) from LII-Cornell Law School
• Caselaw Summary of Webster v. Reproductive Health Services
• Oyez Summary of Webster v. Reproductive Health Services