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Privacy & Reproductive Rights
Gonzales v. Carhart
Decided: 2007
In brief
Upheld a federal ban on the same procedure, signaling greater tolerance for abortion restrictions.
The Court's ruling in depth
Seven years after Stenberg, a differently composed Court upheld the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, distinguishing Stenberg on statutory-detail grounds and signaling that Casey's undue-burden standard could be applied deferentially. Gonzales foreshadowed the doctrinal retreat that culminated in Dobbs.