Global Reproductive Governance after Dobbs

Abstract

The 2022 US Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health overturned the constitutional right to abortion, raising questions about the international implications of the ruling. The Dobbs decision reveals a growing rift in global reproductive governance between countries that rely on international human rights standards and those that do not. The global momentum is currently with the human rights contingent, but the Dobbs ruling reflects the logic of a global antiabortion coalition that would like each country to decide its own life and family laws, without interference from multilateral agencies, based on its own constitution, history, and traditions.