The Dobbs dissent made little effort to defend the handicraft of Justice Blackmun in Roe. And the dissenters didn't bother to endorse the "mystery of human life" pablum from Casey. But Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan did heap praise on the stare decisis discussion from Casey--in particular, the focus on the Court's "legitimacy."
The joint dissenters wrote that overruling Roe would extract a "terrible price."
Casey itself made the last point in explaining why it would not overrule Roe—though some members of its majority might not have joined Roe in the first instance. . . . And to overrule for that reason? Quoting Justice Stewart, Casey explained that to do so—to reverse prior law "upon a ground no firmer than a change in [the Court's] membership"—would invite the view that "this institution is little different from the two political branches of the Government." No view, Casey thought, could do "more lasting injury to this Court and to the system of law which it is our abiding mission to serve." For overruling Roe, Casey concluded, the Court would pay a "terrible price."
