Whalen, Commissioner of Health of New York v. Roe et al.

Decided February 22, 1977. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 75-839 · 429 U.S. 589 (1977) · Cited 1,722 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 9–0.

“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)
• Roe v. Wade · 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
• Stanley v. Georgia · 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
• Katz v. United States · 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
• Doe v. Bolton · 410 U.S. 179 (1973)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Lochner v. New York · 198 U.S. 45 (1905)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Robinson v. California · 370 U.S. 660 (1962)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Poe v. Ullman · 367 U.S. 497 (1961)
• Bates v. City of Little Rock · 361 U.S. 516 (1960)
• California Bankers Assn. v. Shultz · 416 U.S. 21 (1974)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Paul v. Davis · 424 U.S. 693 (1976)
• Meyer v. Nebraska · 262 U.S. 390 (1923)
• Olmstead v. United States · 277 U.S. 438 (1928)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Palko v. Connecticut · 302 U.S. 319 (1937)
• Eisenstadt v. Baird · 405 U.S. 438 (1972)
• Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danforth · 428 U.S. 52 (1976)
• Ferguson v. Skrupa · 372 U.S. 726 (1963)
• New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann · 285 U.S. 262 (1932)
• Allgeyer v. Louisiana · 165 U.S. 578 (1897)
• Beauharnais v. Illinois · 343 U.S. 250 (1952)
• Federal Housing Administration v. Darlington, Inc. · 358 U.S. 84 (1958)
• Olsen v. Nebraska Ex Rel. Western Reference & Bond Assn., Inc. · 313 U.S. 236 (1941)
• Barsky v. Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York · 347 U.S. 442 (1954)

Cited by

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

• Nixon v. Administrator of General Services · 433 U.S. 425 (1977)
• United States Department of Justice v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press · 489 U.S. 749 (1989)
• Maryland v. King · 569 U.S. 435 (2013)
• City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, Inc. · 462 U.S. 416 (1983)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• United States Trust Co. of NY v. New Jersey · 431 U.S. 1 (1977)
• Zablocki v. Redhail · 434 U.S. 374 (1978)
• Carey v. Population Services International · 431 U.S. 678 (1977)
• Gonzales v. Raich · 545 U.S. 1 (2005)
• Maher v. Roe · 432 U.S. 464 (1977)
• Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists · 476 U.S. 747 (1986)
• Ferguson v. City of Charleston · 532 U.S. 67 (2001)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• H. L. v. Matheson · 450 U.S. 398 (1981)
• Hodgson v. Minnesota · 497 U.S. 417 (1990)
• National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra · 585 U.S. 755 (2018)
• Ingraham v. Wright · 430 U.S. 651 (1977)
• Washington v. Glucksberg · 521 U.S. 702 (1997)
• Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives' Assn. · 489 U.S. 602 (1989)
• New York v. Ferber · 458 U.S. 747 (1982)
• McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
• Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., Riverside Cty. · 464 U.S. 501 (1984)
• Seattle Times Co. v. Rhinehart · 467 U.S. 20 (1984)
• Harris v. McRae · 448 U.S. 297 (1980)
• Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, County of Norfolk · 457 U.S. 596 (1982)
• Rust v. Sullivan · 500 U.S. 173 (1991)
• Coker v. Georgia · 433 U.S. 584 (1977)
• Bellotti v. Baird · 443 U.S. 622 (1979)
• Illinois v. Andreas · 463 U.S. 765 (1983)
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission v. Mississippi · 456 U.S. 742 (1982)

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).