WEBSTER v. REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES
This research paper presents and analyzes the facts, issues, holdings and reasoning of the United States Supreme Court in the case of Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490 (1989), and provides an evaluation of the opinions of various members of the Court in that case. The principal significance of the case lies in the fact that a divided court for the first time substantially modified in effect, if not in so many words, the holding of the leading case in the field of abortion, Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).
Appellees, five health professionals, including three physicians, a nurse and a social worker employed by agencies of the State of Missouri, and two health professionals employed by non-profit organizations which provided abortion services in that state, brought a class action against Webster, the Attorney General of Missouri, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri for declaratory relief and an injunction which challenged the constitutionality of a Missouri statute, MO. REV. STAT. Sections 1.205 et seq. That statute, which had been enacted in June, 1986, regulated certain aspects of abortions performed in that state. The District Court struck down seven provisions of that statute and issued an injunction against its enforcement. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit (hereafter the 8th Circuit) affirmed the decision of the District Court based on the holding in Roe v. Wade. The State appealed the case to the Supreme Court which heard the case on April 26, 1989 and issued its decision on July 3, 1989. Only five of the 20 provisions of the statute were the subject of the appeal. The Webster Court reversed the lower courts and upheld the constitutional validity of some of the provisions of the statute, as outlined below.
In its Preamble, Section 1.205.1 (1) (2), the Missouri statute stated: that "the life of each human being beg...