The abortion case is named after Thomas Dobbs, who says he has nothing to do with it

[Jilly_in_VA]

The Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization clears the way for states to reshape abortion law in the U.S., nearly 50 years after the court enshrined abortion rights at the federal level in the Roe v. Wade decision.

The Dobbs case came to the high court from Mississippi, where the Jackson Women's Health Organization has long been the only abortion provider. In 2018, the state enacted a law that bans abortion after 15 weeks, with few exceptions — and not for cases involving rape or incest.

Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, ending right to abortion upheld for decades
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS IN AMERICA
Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, ending right to abortion upheld for decades
The Jackson clinic and one of its doctors sued Mississippi officials in federal court, saying the state's law was unconstitutional.

A federal district court and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the clinic, blocking Mississippi's law. But the state appealed to the Supreme Court, which put the case on its docket.

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/24/1107440547/the-abortion-case-is-named-after-thomas-dobbs-who-says-he-has-nothing-to-do-with

How rude!

[dalton99a]

1. Kick

After Friday's ruling, Thomas Dobbs' name will likely occupy a similar standing — shorthand for a seismic event in the nation's legal history. But Dobbs, a physician who is Mississippi's top health officer, says he has had nothing to do with the case that bears his name.

"It's just a quirk," Dobbs has said. His name is on the case, he noted, because of sovereign immunity protections. Instead of suing his state agency directly, plaintiffs must name Dobbs in court papers, because he's the executive in charge of the agency that inspects the Jackson clinic.

"Actually, that law passed before I was even in this job," Dobbs said, referring to Mississippi's abortion restriction that triggered the federal case. "Honestly, I have nothing to do with it."

Dobbs is an infectious diseases doctor who became Mississippi's top health officer in 2018. He's set to leave the post in July, saying he'll become dean of the University of Mississippi Medical Center's school of population health.

While people around the country invoked his name to discuss the future of abortion rights in the U.S., Dobbs has been trying to help Mississippi fight the COVID-19 pandemic. His tweets, for instance, often urge people to get vaccine booster shots, and seek out treatments such as Paxlovid and monoclonals if they get sick.