In 1986, Missouri enacted legislation that included prohibiting public employees from providing or assisting in abortions not necessary to save the life of the woman, prohibiting the use of public buildings for providing abortions (even if no public funds were used), and requiring physicians to perform viability tests when the pregnancy was at least 20 weeks. The Court upheld the law in a 5-4 decision written by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, with Justices Scalia and O'Connor writing separate concurrences (agreeing with the result for different reasons).
Three justices in the majority opinion found problems with the Roe v. Wade trimester system. Chief Justice Rehnquist, along with Justices Kennedy and White, suggested a new standard of review: whether the regulation or law permissibly furthers the state's interest in protecting potential human life. They concluded that the Missouri law in question satisfied this test. The Court did not address overturning Roe since the law did not limit abortions before viability. Justice Scalia wrote a separate concurrence stating that the Court should have overruled Roe. Justice O'Connor also wrote a separate concurrence because she did not advocate the overturning of Roe, nor was she ready to eviscerate the trimester system. She applied an "undue burden" standard and found the restriction constitutional. Although it is difficult to say that a clear ruling emerged from Webster, it led to what was to come in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey.
Full text of the decision
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