Supreme Court Dobbs Decision Could Restore American System

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles on the leaked Dobbs draft opinion and its implications.

One reason for the continuing outcry over the leaked draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is that if the final decision follows the reasoning of the leaked draft, it will do more than overturn Roe v. Wade and upend the issue of abortion. It will represent a watershed moment in American judicial history and constitutional thought, potentially restoring a balance between the three branches of government that conservatives have long sought. However, the aftermath may also disappoint more combative conservative intellectuals who seek to replace liberalism’s tottering foundations.

About the Author

Steven F. Hayward

Steven F. Hayward is the Edward Gaylord Distinguished Visiting Professor at Pepperdine University School of Public Policy.

About the Author

John Yoo

John Yoo is the Thomas W. Smith Senior Fellow at the Civitas Institute, University of Texas at Austin; Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley; and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He is a co-author of the just-released two-volume American Constitutional Law (Routledge, 2026).

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Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles on the leaked Dobbs draft opinion and its implications.

One reason for the continuing outcry over the leaked draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is that if the final decision follows the reasoning of the leaked draft, it will do more than overturn Roe v. Wade and upend the issue of abortion. It will represent a watershed moment in American judicial history and constitutional thought, potentially restoring a balance between the three branches of government that conservatives have long sought. However, the aftermath may also disappoint more combative conservative intellectuals who seek to replace liberalism’s tottering foundations.

About the Author

Steven F. Hayward

Steven F. Hayward is the Edward Gaylord Distinguished Visiting Professor at Pepperdine University School of Public Policy.

About the Author

John Yoo

John Yoo is the Thomas W. Smith Senior Fellow at the Civitas Institute, University of Texas at Austin; Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley; and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He is a co-author of the just-released two-volume American Constitutional Law (Routledge, 2026).