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The Supreme Court’s decision this week to overrule one of its prior decisions is attracting attention not because of its unexciting holding — that a state can’t be sued in the courts of another state — but because of a forceful and timely dissent from the court’s four Democratic appointees. Writing for himself and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, Justice Stephen G. Breyer said that needlessly overturning previous decisions threatens the stability of the law. He warned his colleagues that the court should cast aside previous rulings “only when the circumstances demand it.” (5/16)

Alabama is making headlines for something everyone knows, whether they admit it publicly or not: babies are people too, and people deserve protection under the law. It’s a simple principle that as individuals most understand, a civil society needs the law to care about whether any of us are harmed and to hold accountable those who cause that harm. What makes Alabama so noteworthy is their willingness to tell abortion vendors that civil rights extend to preborn women, and to men for that matter. (Kristan Hawkins, 5/15)

Chief Justice John Roberts will not vote to strike down Roe v. Wade and outright ban abortion. At least not yet. The 64-year-old appointee of George W. Bush has never endorsed abortion rights or ever voted to invalidate a tough regulation. Earlier in his career, as a government lawyer, Roberts filed a brief at the high court asserting that the 1973 Roe had been wrongly decided and urged its reversal. But in his new position as the deciding vote on abortion, Roberts today is moving cautiously on any narrowing -- or outright elimination -- of a woman's constitutional right to end a pregnancy. His stance is becoming more crucial as states race to pass laws directly challenging Roe. On Wednesday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a near-total abortion ban. (Joan Biskupic, 5/15)

All eyes were on Alabama on Tuesday as the State Senate debated, and then passed, what could become the most restrictive abortion law in the country. Under the legislation, which the Republican governor, Kay Ivey, signed Wednesday, women in Alabama would be forced to carry unwanted or nonviable pregnancies to term in nearly all circumstances, including when a pregnancy results from rape or incest. Doctors who perform the procedure would face felony charges and up to 99 years in prison — which is more prison time than convicted rapists face in the state. (5/15)

It was July, the summer between sixth and seventh grade, when days 33, 34, 35 and more passed with no period. I had read in one of my sister’s Seventeen magazines that periods aren’t always regular, so I figured this was my first one of those. It wasn’t. (Shannon Dingle, 5/15)

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since it’s a relationship that’s been known for years, but the states with the harshest restrictions on abortions also have the worst infant mortality rates. The correspondence is unmistakable, and not hard to explain: Those states’ governments also show the least concern for maternal and infant health in general, as represented by public policies. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/15)