Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf
Page Number: 86.0

78  DOBBS v. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION 

Opinion of the Court 

307, 313 (1993); New Orleans v. Dukes, 427 U. S. 297, 303 
(1976) (per curiam); Williamson v. Lee Optical of Okla., Inc., 
348  U. S.  483,  491  (1955).    These  legitimate  interests  in-
clude  respect  for  and  preservation  of  prenatal  life  at  all 
stages of development, Gonzales, 550 U. S., at 157–158; the 
protection of maternal health and safety; the elimination of 
particularly gruesome or barbaric medical procedures; the 
preservation of the integrity of the medical profession; the 
mitigation of fetal pain; and the prevention of discrimina-
tion on the basis of race, sex, or disability.  See id., at 156– 
157; Roe, 410 U. S., at 150; cf. Glucksberg, 521 U. S., at 728– 
731 (identifying similar interests). 

B 
These  legitimate  interests  justify  Mississippi’s  Gesta-
tional Age Act.  Except “in a medical emergency or in the 
case  of  a  severe  fetal  abnormality,”  the  statute  prohibits
abortion “if the probable gestational age of the unborn hu-
man being has been determined to be greater than fifteen 
(15) weeks.”  Miss. Code Ann. §41–41–191(4)(b).  The Mis-
sissippi Legislature’s findings recount the stages of “human 
prenatal  development”  and  assert  the  State’s  interest  in 
“protecting the life of the unborn.”  §2(b)(i).  The legislature
also  found  that  abortions  performed  after  15  weeks  typi-
cally  use  the  dilation  and  evacuation  procedure,  and  the
legislature  found  the  use  of  this  procedure  “for  nonthera-
peutic or elective reasons [to be] a barbaric practice, dan-
gerous for the maternal patient, and demeaning to the med-
ical profession.”  §2(b)(i)(8); see also Gonzales, 550 U. S., at 
135–143 (describing such procedures).  These legitimate in-
terests provide a rational basis for the Gestational Age Act,
and  it  follows  that  respondents’  constitutional  challenge 
must fail. 

We end this opinion where we began.  Abortion presents 

VII