The United States Supreme Court is the highest federal judicial system with ultimate appellate jurisdiction over federal court cases. Once the supreme court makes its final judgment, no other body can overturn it. The number of cases taken to the Supreme Court is limited because it deals with the most sensitive matters (Greenberg et al., 2020). Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is among the recent cases handled by the Supreme Court. Supreme Court rejected the previous court decision and gave states the power to regulate abortion after arguing that there is no federal right to abortion in the American Constitution (Lambert et al., 2023). This case was appealed severally before it reached the Supreme Court. Supreme Court judges revised the decisions made before by lower courts. This law presented national implications since the American states were given the power to enact their regulations regarding the same since abortion rights are not protected by the federal constitution. After the Supreme Court decision, many states have established new laws prohibiting abortion.
As a medical professional, I do not support this decision because I believe it was influenced by the political environment rather than findings from clinical studies and scientific facts. Once a supreme court decides, the likelihood of overturning the decision is minimal. Women can seek medical abortion due to many personal matters, and as we respect the patient’s autonomy, women’s decisions should be respected. Our constitution protects the right to privacy under the 14th Amendment. Thus, any woman's decision to seek an abortion should be treated like a privacy right and not be exposed without consent or permission. Therefore, it would be better if the supreme court revised and reversed this decision.
References
Greenberg, E.S., Page, B.I., Doherty, D. Minkoff, S.L., & Ryan, J. M. (2020).
The struggle for democracy. (2018 elections and updates ed.). Pearson.
Lambert, S. J., Horvath, S. K., & Casas, R. S. (2023). Impact of the Dobbs decision on medical education and training in abortion care.
Women's Health Issues.