Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-1323_c07d.pdf
Page Number: 78.0

Cite as:  591 U. S. ____ (2020) 

17 

THOMAS, J., dissenting 

More specifically, the idea that the Framers of the Four-
teenth Amendment understood the Due Process Clause to 
protect a right to abortion is farcical.  See Roe, 410 U. S., at 
174–175  (Rehnquist,  J.,  dissenting).    In  1868,  when  the 
Fourteenth  Amendment  was  ratified,  a  majority  of  the 
States and numerous Territories had laws on the books that 
limited (and in many cases nearly prohibited) abortion.  See 
id., at 175, n. 1.7  It would no doubt shock the public at that
time  to  learn  that  one  of  the  new  constitutional  Amend-
ments contained hidden within the interstices of its text a 
right  to  abortion.    The  fact  that  it  took  this  Court  over  a 
century  to  find  that  right  all  but  proves  that  it  was  more
than hidden—it simply was not (and is not) there. 

C 
Despite  the  readily  apparent  illegitimacy  of  Roe,  “the 

—————— 

7 See, e.g., Ala. Rev. Code §3605 (1867); Terr. of Ariz., Howell Code, ch. 
10,  §45  (1865);  Ark. Rev. Stat.,  ch.  44,  div.  III,  Art.  II,  §6  (1838);  1861
Cal. Stat.,  ch.  521,  §45,  p.  588;  Colo.  (Terr.)  Rev.  Stat.  §42  (1868); 
Conn. Gen. Stat., Tit. 12, §§22–24 (1861); Fla. Acts 1st Sess., ch. 1637,
subch. III, §§10, 11, ch. 8, §§9, 10 (1868);  Terr. of Idaho Laws, Crimes
and  Punishments  §42  (1864);  Ill. Stat.,  ch.  30,  §47  (1868);  Ind. Laws
ch. LXXXI, §2 (1859); Iowa Rev. Gen. Stat., ch. 165, §4221 (1860); Kan. 
Gen.  Stat.,  ch.  31,  §§14,  15,  44  (1868);  La. Rev. Stat.,  Crimes  and  Of-
fenses  §24  (1856);  Me. Rev. Stat.,  Tit.  XI,  ch.  124,  §8  (1857);  1868 
Md. Laws  ch.  179,  §2,  p.  315;  Mass. Gen.  Stat.,  ch.  165,  §9  (1860); 
Mich. Rev. Stat.,  Tit.  XXX,  ch.  153,  §§32,  33,  34  (1846);  Terr.  of  Minn. 
Rev. Stat., ch. 100, §§10, 11 (1851); Miss. Rev. Code, ch. LXIV, Arts. 172, 
173 (1857); Mo. Rev. Stat., Art. II, §§9, 10, 36 (1835); Terr. of Mont. Laws, 
Criminal Practice Acts §41 (1864); Terr. of Neb. Rev. Stat., Crim. Code 
§42 (1866); Terr. of Nev. Laws ch. 28, §42 (1861); 1848  N. H. Laws ch.
743,  §§1,  2,  p.  708;  1849  N. J. Laws,  pp.  266–267;  1854  Terr.  of  N. M. 
Laws ch. 3, §§10, 11, p. 88; 1846 N. Y. Laws ch. 22, §1, p. 19; 1867 Ohio 
Laws  §2,  pp.  135–136;  Ore. Gen. Laws,  Crim. Code,  ch.  XLIII,  §509 
(1845–1864);  1860  Pa. Laws  no. 374,  §§87,  88,  89,  pp.  404–405; 
Tex. Gen. Stat. Dig.,  Penal  Code,  ch. VII,  Arts.  531–536  (1859);  1867
Vt. Acts & Resolves no. 57, §§1, 3, pp. 64–66; 1848 Va. Acts, Tit. II, ch. 3, 
§9,  p.  96;  Terr.  of  Wash.  Stat.,  ch.  II,  §§37,  38  (1854);  Wis. Rev. Stat., 
ch. 164, §§10, 11, ch. 169, §§58, 59 (1858).