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Abortion-rights flip has law schools scrambling to rewrite out-of-step constitutional law teachings

The Supreme Court’s decision this summer didn’t just upend abortion law — it sent law professors scrambling to retool how they teach constitutional law itself.

From classrooms to casebooks, teachers are grappling with the justices’ ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson, wondering what it means for big legal concepts like fealty to precedent and the court’s role in refereeing itself, as well as Congress and the presidency.

Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law and editor of a “Con Law” casebook, said they are rethinking years of teaching that the Roe v. Wade decision establishing a national right to abortion and a follow-up case, 1992’s Casey decision, were “safe” from future court meddling.