Roe et al. v. Wade, District Attorney of Dallas County

Decided January 22, 1973. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 70-18 · 410 U.S. 113 (1973) · Cited 5,581 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Eisenstadt v. Baird · 405 U.S. 438 (1972)
• Meyer v. Nebraska · 262 U.S. 390 (1923)
• Ferguson v. Skrupa · 372 U.S. 726 (1963)
• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• United States v. Vuitch · 402 U.S. 62 (1971)
• Katz v. United States · 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Dombrowski v. Pfister · 380 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Lochner v. New York · 198 U.S. 45 (1905)
• Golden v. Zwickler · 394 U.S. 103 (1969)
• Truax v. Raich · 239 U.S. 33 (1915)
• Flast v. Cohen · 392 U.S. 83 (1968)
• Sierra Club v. Morton · 405 U.S. 727 (1972)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• Prince v. Massachusetts · 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Skinner v. Oklahoma Ex Rel. Williamson · 316 U.S. 535 (1942)
• Poe v. Ullman · 367 U.S. 497 (1961)
• Aptheker v. Secretary of State · 378 U.S. 500 (1964)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth · 408 U.S. 564 (1972)
• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
• Boyd v. United States · 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
• Yick Wo v. Hopkins · 118 U.S. 356 (1886)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Association of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp · 397 U.S. 150 (1970)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Snyder v. Massachusetts · 291 U.S. 97 (1934)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• Harris v. McRae · 448 U.S. 297 (1980)
• Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danforth · 428 U.S. 52 (1976)
• Webster v. Reproductive Health Services · 492 U.S. 490 (1989)
• Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists · 476 U.S. 747 (1986)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, Inc. · 462 U.S. 416 (1983)
• Lawrence v. Texas · 539 U.S. 558 (2003)
• Colautti v. Franklin · 439 U.S. 379 (1979)
• Gonzales v. Carhart · 550 U.S. 124 (2007)
• Stenberg v. Carhart · 530 U.S. 914 (2000)
• Maher v. Roe · 432 U.S. 464 (1977)
• Carey v. Population Services International · 431 U.S. 678 (1977)
• Beal v. Doe · 432 U.S. 438 (1977)
• Washington v. Glucksberg · 521 U.S. 702 (1997)
• H. L. v. Matheson · 450 U.S. 398 (1981)
• Whalen v. Roe · 429 U.S. 589 (1977)
• Moore v. City of East Cleveland · 431 U.S. 494 (1977)
• Johnson v. United States · 576 U.S. 591 (2015)
• Hodgson v. Minnesota · 497 U.S. 417 (1990)
• Planned Parenthood Assn. of Kansas City, Mo., Inc. v. Ashcroft · 462 U.S. 476 (1983)
• Poelker v. Doe · 432 U.S. 519 (1977)
• Steffel v. Thompson · 415 U.S. 452 (1974)
• Bowers v. Hardwick · 478 U.S. 186 (1986)
• Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Inc. · 587 U.S. 490 (2019)
• Singleton v. Wulff · 428 U.S. 106 (1976)
• Rust v. Sullivan · 500 U.S. 173 (1991)
• Zablocki v. Redhail · 434 U.S. 374 (1978)
• Bellotti v. Baird · 443 U.S. 622 (1979)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).