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42  DOBBS v. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION 

BREYER, SOTOMAYOR, and KAGAN, JJ., dissenting 

and some of the highest rates for preterm birth, low birth-
weight,  cesarean  section,  and  maternal  death.20    It  is  ap-
proximately 75 times more dangerous for a woman in the 
State to carry a pregnancy to term than to have an abortion.
See  Brief  for  547  Deans  9–10.  We  do  not  say  that  every
State is Mississippi, and we are sure some have made gains
since  Roe  and  Casey  in  providing  support  for  women  and 
children.  But a state-by-state analysis by public health pro-
fessionals shows that States with the most restrictive abor-
tion policies also continue to invest the least in women’s and 
children’s health.  See Brief for 547 Deans 23–34. 

The only notable change we can see since Roe and Casey 
cuts in favor of adhering to precedent: It is that American
abortion law has become more and more aligned with other 
nations.  The  majority,  like  the  Mississippi  Legislature,
claims that the United States is an extreme outlier when it 
comes to abortion regulation.  See ante, at 6, and n. 15.  The 
global trend, however, has been toward increased provision 
of legal and safe abortion care.  A number of countries, in-
cluding New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Iceland, permit
abortions up to a roughly similar time as Roe and Casey set. 
See Brief for International and Comparative Legal Scholars 
as Amici Curiae 18–22.  Canada has decriminalized abor-
tion at any point in a pregnancy.  See id., at 13–15.  Most 
Western  European  countries  impose  restrictions  on  abor-

—————— 

20 See  CDC,  Infant  Mortality  Rates  by  State  (Mar.  3,  2022), 
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/infant_mortality_rates/infant
_mortality.htm; Mississippi State Dept. of Health, Infant Mortality Re-
port  2019  &  2020,  pp.  18–19  (2021),  https://www.msdh.ms.gov/
msdhsite/_static/resources/18752.pdf;  CDC,  Percentage  of  Babies  Born 
Low  Birthweight  by  State  (Feb.  25,  2022),  https://www.cdc.gov/
nchs/pressroom/sosmap/lbw_births/lbw.htm;  CDC,  Cesarean  Delivery 
Rate  by  State  (Feb.  25,  2022),  https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/
sosmap/cesarean_births/cesareans.htm;  Mississippi  State  Dept.  of 
Health,  Mississippi  Maternal  Mortality  Report  2013–2016,  pp.  5,  25
(Mar. 2021), https://www.msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/8127.pdf.