Webster v. Reproductive Health Services

The plaintiff-appellees were state-employed health professionals and private non-profit corporations providing abortion services. They challenged a Missouri law that, among other things, prohibited the use of public facilities for providing all abortions except those to save the life of the woman. The District Court struck down and enjoined the enforcement of that section of the law and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed and upheld the section of law, explaining that states have the authority to make value judgments favoring childbirth over abortions. According to the Court, Missouri’s law, by allocating the state’s public resources away from abortions, was a valid exercise of the state’s right to implement a value judgment favoring childbirth.

Topics

• Abortion and reproductive health rights
• Gender discrimination

Geographical location

• North America
• United States

Keywords

• constitutional rights
• due process
• state actor

Year

• 1989

External URL

• Webster v. Reproductive Health Services

Court

• Supreme Court of the United States

Type

• Domestic Case Law

Jurisdiction

• United States