Each year, the so called “June Court” decisions from the Supreme Court garner quite a lot of attention, but few in recent memory have received close to the same level of attention as Dobbs v. Jackson, which effectively overturned Roe v. Wade. By this point, everyone knows about this decision, though fewer of us know as much as we might about the actual case that was before the court, why it was decided the way it was, and what this really means for abortion law going forward. To help us grow in our understanding of what has taken place and what is coming next––or what’s not coming next––I am happy to welcome back to the show Professor Rick Garnett of the Notre Dame Law School, who has become our show’s resident expert on the Supreme Court and especially cases relating to religious liberty. While Dobbs was not a religious liberty case, a number of other cases on which the Court ruled in the summer of 2022 were. To give due time to all these cases, my conversation with Professor Garnett will span two episodes. In this first one, we focus on Dobbs, then in the next one we’ll talk about several religious liberty cases.A little more about my guest, who has joined me several times before. In addition to being a Professor of Law here at Notre Dame, Rick Garnett is also the founding director of the Program on Church, State, and Society in the Notre Dame Law School, as well as a fellow of the School’s Religious Liberty Initiative. He has published widely and some of his recent articles on the Supreme Court decisions have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Law, City Journal, and the Daily News.

Church Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.