Doe v. Bolton

E13458

Doe v. Bolton is a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that, alongside Roe v. Wade, expanded and defined the scope of abortion rights by striking down restrictive state regulations.


Statements (49)
Predicate Object
instanceOf United States Supreme Court case
abortion case
landmark decision
citation 410 U.S. 179
companionCaseOf Roe v. Wade
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
country United States
court Supreme Court of the United States
decisionDate 1973-01-22
decisionType per curiam-like companion to Roe v. Wade
defined health of the mother to include physical, emotional, psychological, familial factors, and the woman’s age
dissentingJustice Byron R. White
William H. Rehnquist
fullCaseName Doe et al. v. Bolton, Attorney General of Georgia, et al.
held that a residency requirement for women seeking abortions in Georgia was unconstitutional
that limiting hospital access for abortions to accredited hospitals was unconstitutional
that overly restrictive procedural requirements for obtaining abortions violated the Fourteenth Amendment
that requiring approval by a hospital committee for abortions was unconstitutional
that requiring concurrence of multiple physicians for abortions was unconstitutional
that several provisions of the Georgia abortion statute were unconstitutional
jurisdiction Georgia
legalEffect broadened the definition of maternal health in the abortion context
expanded the scope of abortion rights recognized in Roe v. Wade
limited states' ability to impose procedural barriers to abortion
legalSubject abortion
privacy rights
substantive due process
majorityJusticesJoining Lewis F. Powell Jr.
Potter Stewart
Thurgood Marshall
Warren E. Burger
William J. Brennan Jr.
William O. Douglas
majorityOpinionBy Harry A. Blackmun
originatingJurisdiction State of Georgia
pageInUnitedStatesReports 179
petitioner Mary Doe
relatedTo reproductive rights in the United States
right to privacy
respondent Arthur K. Bolton
respondentOffice Attorney General of Georgia
subsequentHistory limited and effectively overruled in part by Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
topic United States constitutional law
medical regulation and licensing
women’s rights in the United States
volumeInUnitedStatesReports 410
yearDecided 1973

Referenced by (6)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Doe v. Bolton ("Doe et al. v. Bolton, Attorney General of Georgia, et al.")
fullCaseName
Roe v. Wade
hasRelatedCase
Mary Doe
isPlaintiffIn
Mary Doe
legalCase
Mary Doe ("Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973)")
legalCaseCitation
91-902 ("Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists")
relatedPrecedent

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