Supreme Court Decisions Overturning Roe and Limiting Voting Rights

In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) and Louisiana v. Callais (April 29 2026), Justice Samuel Alito authored opinions that overturned Roe v. Wade and limited Voting Rights Act preclearance. He argued no right to abortion existed and that criminal prohibition persisted until 1973.

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A 2024 study found that states formerly under preclearance have non-white populations and racial turnout gaps. The DOJ amicus brief noted that, since 2004, Black voters turned out at higher rates than white voters in two of five presidential elections and in Louisiana.

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Court framed abortion ruling as restoring consensus, citing Alito’s claim of a prohibition tradition. In voting-rights case, majority said recent elections showed no turnout gap, echoing John Roberts’s view that Act fulfilled purpose. DOJ brief said minority registration and turnout had largely converged with majority, and Alito reiterated that Black voter participation matched white voters.

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Justice Elena Kagan called Alito’s narrative “embarrassingly” wrong, noting no anti-abortion tradition. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg warned discarding preclearance “is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.” Experts called Alito’s turnout claim “egregious cherry-picking,” highlighting widening gap.

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The DOJ brief argues Black voter turnout matched or exceeded white turnout in two of five recent presidential elections, citing 2008 and 2012. The 2024 study finds the racial turnout gap has widened nationally, especially in former preclearance states, conflicting with Court reliance on 2008-2012 data.

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• “From the nation’s founding through the early 1800s, pre-quickening abortions—that is, abortions before a pregnant person feels fetal movement—were fairly common and even advertised.” — Treva Lindsey, Ohio State University Professor

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• “no common-law case or authority... remotely suggests a positive right to procure an abortion at any stage of pregnancy” — Justice Samuel Alito, Dobbs opinion

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• “Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.” — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, dissent

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• “Black voters now participate in elections at similar rates as the rest of the electorate, even turning out at higher rates than white voters in two of the five most recent Presidential elections nationwide and in Louisiana.” — Justice Samuel Alito, Callais opinion

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Republican legislators in several states plan to redraw districts without creating majority-Black districts, citing Callais. Civil-rights groups anticipate lawsuits challenging those maps under remaining Voting Rights Act provisions.

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