Editing Roe v. Wade (section)

=== ''Webster v. Reproductive Health Services'' ===
In a 5–4 decision in 1989's ''[[Webster v. Reproductive Health Services]]'', Chief Justice Rehnquist, writing for the Court, declined to explicitly overrule ''Roe'', because "none of the challenged provisions of the Missouri Act properly before us conflict with the Constitution." In particular, the Court found that the ability to have a nontherapeutic abortion was not an affirmative right of the sort that required the state to pay for it.<ref name="Webster">{{ussc|name=Webster v. Reproductive Health Services|volume=492|page=490|pin=|year=1989}}.</ref> In this case, the Court upheld several abortion restrictions, and modified the ''Roe'' trimester framework.<ref name="Webster"/>

In concurring opinions, Justice O'Connor refused to reconsider ''Roe'', and Justice Antonin Scalia criticized the Court and Justice O'Connor for not overruling ''Roe''.<ref name="Webster"/> Justice Blackmun stated in his dissent that Justices White, Kennedy and Rehnquist were "callous" and "deceptive", that they deserved to be charged with "cowardice and illegitimacy", and that their [[Plurality (voting)|plurality]] opinion "[[:wikt:foment#Verb|foments]] disregard for the law."<ref name="Webster"/> White had recently opined that the majority reasoning in ''Roe v. Wade'' was "warped."<ref name="Thornburgh"/>