Dobbs and the New Doctrine of Stare Decisis

Authors

Russell A. Miller, Washington and Lee University School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

Alongside the historic and troubling annulment of the half-century-old Substantive Due Process right to abortion, Dobbs produced another significant outcome. To get its substantive constitutional law result, the Court’s majority also had to reconceive—and significantly weaken—the doctrine of stare decisis. This was necessary because, following Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the constitutional right to abortion largely depended on respect for precedent as the basis for its survival. To overturn Roe, the Dobbs majority had to blast through the established practice of precedent and articulate a new doctrine of stare decisis. It seems that precedent was meant to be the last (jurisprudential) casualty of America’s long-running abortion war. This Article outlines the new doctrine of stare decisis that emerged from the majority’s tectonic ruling in Dobbs.

Recommended Citation

Russell A. Miller, Dobbs and the New Doctrine of Stare Decisis, 33 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 811 (2025).