Americans will always remember June 24, 2022, the day the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, according to Associate Professor of Politics Adam Carrington. 

“Not only was it a momentous day, but a good day for America and American law,” Carrington said. 

The Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. The landmark decision overturned both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, returning the power to regulate abortion to the states.  

Dean of Social Sciences Paul Moreno said he was “astonished” by the Dobbs decision. Moreno taught a one-credit course on the history of abortion in 2019.

“I never thought it would happen,” Moreno said. “We’ve been waiting for 50 years for the impact of new Supreme Court appointments to do something about Roe v Wade, and it finally happened. It was a long time coming.” 

Many protestors misread the decision, believing the Supreme Court completely criminalized abortion, according to Carrington.

“The biggest misunderstanding certainly has been that the Dobbs decision banned abortions or restricted abortions, which it did not,” Carrington said. 

“It was the Court getting out of regulating abortion and leaving it to states and to some small degree, the national government, to determine.”

According to Professor of Politics Mickey Craig, the Dobbs decision signals a return to the Supreme Court’s original role of interpretation instead of judicial activism. 

“Dobbs is a victory for federalism and is saying that activist judges can’t invent rights and then torture the country until majorities are put together on the court to say you can’t do that,” Craig said.

According to Carrington, many American citizens see the Supreme Court as “another policy-making branch.” Many people don’t realize the Court could yield power by returning abortion regulations to individual states, Carrington said. 

The overturn of Roe provides more opportunities for Hillsdale students to support pro-life organizations in the community such as Helping Hands, according to College Chaplain Adam Rick. 

“We can continue the pro-life cause by convincing our fellow citizens of the rightness of this path: passing laws that encourage family life and supporting mothers and fathers,” Rick said.