ABSTRACT
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 US 490, was among a long line of challenges undermining the trimester analysis of Roe v. Wade, 410 US 113, in which the US Supreme Court balanced women's privacy rights and the state's interest in protecting potential life. Webster generated enormous public attention: Abortion foes and advocates rallied in Washington, D.C., in January and April 1989, sent thousands of letters to the Court, flooded its switchboard, launched significant advertising campaigns, and wrote a record number of amicus briefs. Rehnquist abandoned Roes trimester analysis, which previously had been used to strike most provisions such as those at issue in Webster. Rather, Rehnquist said the state had a compelling interest to protect life throughout pregnancy. Employing this revised jurisprudence, the plurality allowed for substantial regulation of abortion, but did not believe the issues presented in Webster required the Court to overrule Roe.
