JACKSON WOMEN'S HEALTH ORGANIZATION v. DOBBS

No. 18-60868.

945 F.3d 265 (2019)

JACKSON WOMEN'S HEALTH ORGANIZATION, on behalf of itself and its patients; Sacheen Carr-Ellis, M.D., M.P.H., on behalf of herself and her patients, Plaintiffs-Appellees v. Thomas E. DOBBS, M.D., M.P.H., in his official capacity as State Health Officer of the Mississippi Department of Health; Kenneth Cleveland, M.D., in his official capacity as Executive Director of the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure, Defendants-Appellants.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

FILED December 13, 2019.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Hillary Schneller , Center for Reproductive Rights, New York, NY, Aaron Sean Delaney , Caitlin Grusauskas , Claudia Hammerman , Alexia Korberg , Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, L.L.P., New York, NY, Crystal Johnson Geise , Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, L.L.P., Washington, DC, Robert Bruce McDuff, Esq. , Jackson, MS, Beth Levine Orlansky , Mississippi Center for Justice, Jackson, MS, Julie Rikelman, Esq. , Center for Reproductive Rights, New York, NY, for Plaintiffs-Appellees JACKSON WOMEN'S HEALTH ORGANIZATION, on behalf of itself and its patients, SACHEEN CARR-ELLIS, M.D., M.P.H., on behalf of herself and her patients.

Paul Eldridge Barnes, Esq. , Wilson Douglas Minor, Esq. , Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Mississippi, Jackson, MS, Wilson Douglas Minor, Esq. , Assistant Attorney General, for Defendants-Appellants THOMAS E. DOBBS, M.D., M.P.H., in his official capacity as State Health Officer of the Mississippi Department of Health, KENNETH CLEVELAND, M.D., in his official capacity as Executive Director of the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure.

John J. Bursch , Bursch Law, P.L.L.C., Caledonia, MI, for Amicus Curiae MISSISSIPPI GOVERNOR PHIL BRYANT.

Kyle Douglas Hawkins , Beth Ellen Klusmann, Esq. , Office of the Attorney General, Office of the Solicitor General, Austin, TX, for Amici Curiae STATE OF TEXAS, STATE OF LOUISIANA.

Christian Janet Strickland , Schwartz, Orgler & Jordan, P.L.L.C., Biloxi, MS, Stephen James Carmody, Esq. , Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, P.L.L.C., Jackson, MS, for Amici Curiae ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI, ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI.

Karli Eisenberg , Office of the Attorney General, Sacramento, CA, for Amici Curiae STATE OF COLORADO, STATE OF CONNECTICUT, STATE OF DELAWARE, STATE OF HAWAII, STATE OF ILLINOIS, STATE OF IOWA, STATE OF MAINE, STATE OF MARYLAND, STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS, STATE OF MICHIGAN, STATE OF MINNESOTA, STATE OF NEVADA, STATE OF NEW MEXICO, STATE OF NEW YORK, STATE OF OREGON, STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, STATE OF VERMONT, STATE OF VIRGINIA, STATE OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

Stuart Sarnoff , O'Melveny & Myers, L.L.P., New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae CONSTITUTIONAL LAW SCHOLARS.

Janice Mac Avoy , Alexis Casamassima , Alexis Fallon , Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriven & Jacobson, L.L.P., New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae SOCIETY FOR MATERNAL-FETAL MEDICINE.

Claude Szyfer , Stroock, Stroock & Lavan, L.L.P., New York, NY, for Amici Curiae ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE CARE-SOUTHEAST, BLACK WOMEN'S HEALTH IMPERATIVE, FEMINIST WOMEN'S HEALTH CENTER, IN YOUR OWN VOICE: NATIONAL BLACK WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE AGENDA, LIFT LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI IN ACTION, NATIONAL ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN WOMEN'S FORUM, NEW ORLEANS ABORTION FUND, SISTERLOVE, INCORPORATED, SISTERSONG, SPARK REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE NOW!, INCORPORATED, WOMEN WITH A VISION.

Priscilla Joyce Smith, Esq. , Yale Law School, Brooklyn, NY, for Amicus Curiae INFORMATION SOCIETY PROJECT AT YALE LAW SCHOOL.

Before HIGGINBOTHAM, DENNIS, and HO, Circuit Judges.


This case concerns a Mississippi law that prohibits abortions, with limited exceptions, after 15 weeks' gestational age. The central question before us is whether this law is an unconstitutional ban on pre-viability abortions. In an unbroken line dating to Roe...

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