Dobbs Decision: How the End of Roe v. Wade Reshaped Abortion Rights and Sexual Autonomy

When the Dobbs decision, the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the federal constitutional right to abortion. Also known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, it didn’t just change a law—it rewrote the rules of bodily autonomy for millions. Before 2022, abortion was protected nationwide until fetal viability. After Dobbs, that protection vanished overnight. States could now ban it entirely, restrict it to rape or incest, or leave it wide open—no federal safety net remained.

The Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that established a constitutional right to abortion. Also known as Jane Roe case, it had stood for nearly 50 years as the foundation of reproductive freedom. Its collapse didn’t just affect clinics. It sent shockwaves through healthcare, education, employment, and even travel. Women in states with bans now drive hundreds of miles for care—or risk criminal penalties. Doctors hesitate to treat miscarriages for fear of prosecution. Emergency rooms turn away patients who need urgent care. The reproductive rights, the legal and social ability to make decisions about pregnancy, contraception, and bodily autonomy. Also known as sexual autonomy, it is no longer guaranteed anywhere in the U.S.—not by law, not by policy, not by federal courts.

What you’ll find here isn’t just news. It’s history in motion. These articles trace how we got here—from Victorian-era moral panic over female sexuality to the feminist breakthroughs that won Roe, and now, how those gains are being dismantled. You’ll read about how legal protections for LGBTQ+ people are now under the same kind of threat, how consent and coercion are being redefined in a post-Roe world, and how the same forces that once labeled masturbation a disease now label abortion a crime. This isn’t abstract. It’s personal. It’s happening right now—in hospitals, in courtrooms, in living rooms where women decide whether to risk jail or cross state lines. The Dobbs decision didn’t end abortion. It exposed how fragile rights really are when they’re not rooted in law, but in politics. And now, the fight isn’t just about abortion—it’s about who gets to control the body, the future, and the truth.