The 10th Amendment and Its Relevance to Controversial Issues in the United States

Supreme Court cases typically interest only lawyers and legal scholars, and few of them have any real cultural clout. Of the cases that do make their way into modern notoriety, there are few as controversial and provocative as Roe v. Wade (1973), in which the Supreme Court ruled that the constitutional right to privacy extended to a woman’s decision to have an abortion. Perhaps the only case that comes to mind as more provocative is Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022). This is the case commonly referred to as the reversal of Roe v. Wade, in which the Supreme Court upheld a Mississippi law banning most abortions after reaching 15 weeks of pregnancy. For simple background context, the Constitution never explicitly mentions abortion. As such, the Court’s decisions around abortion have hinged on various Amendments and constitutional provisions. Now that Roe is no longer precedent, abortion regulation has fallen under the purview of state legislatures. The recent cultural dialogue around this change has sparked discussion of the 10th Amendment and its place in the modern political climate.

Explaining the 10th Amendment

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Before exploring the application of the 10th Amendment to abortion discussions, it’s important to first understand what exactly the Amendment does. This Amendment is unique among the Constitution's amendments because it does not outline a specific protected right or process. Instead, the 10th Amendment serves as an additional layer of protection for the separation of powers already outlined earlier in the Constitution. A clear example of this appears in New York v. United States, where the Supreme Court applied the 10th Amendment by striking down a federal law regulating radioactive waste disposal (LegalClarity Team, 2025). In short, the 10th Amendment is significant because it emphasizes the structure that keeps our Union working. The 7 Articles of the Constitution lay out what the federal government can do, while the Bill of Rights lays out what the federal government cannot do. The 10th Amendment stands as a reinforcement and emboldenment of this system of federalism.

Connecting the 10th Amendment to Abortion

The decision in Roe v. Wade (1973) protected a woman’s right to have an abortion under the right to privacy, which the court interpreted through the 14th Amendment. However, opponents of this ruling often invoked the 10th Amendment to justify their dissent. Some who felt the Court erred in the Roe decision claim that the issue ought to be resolved at the state level. In fact, in the Roe case, Wade’s representation argued this exact point. Now, the recent Dobbs decision has sparked more discourse around this very topic. It should be noted that the Dobbs decision is not based exclusively on the 10th Amendment; rather, it rests on the underlying principles of federalism that the Amendment aims to protect. Since the federal government no longer recognizes that the Constitution protects abortion, regulation of the matter is “reserved” to legislation by the States.

The 10th Amendment and Other Issues

This abortion debate highlights how the 10th Amendment continues to remain very relevant in current politics. That said, the ongoing abortion debate is far from the only case where Americans have turned to the 10th Amendment when facing a controversial issue. Marijuana legalization, immigration enforcement, and educational policy are a few of many controversial topics that trigger conversations about the balance of power between the state and federal government. It seems, then, that the recent discourse around abortion and the 10th Amendment is the latest in a long string of “states’ rights” controversies.

Conclusion

Whether you are a staunch supporter of Roe, a defender of Dobbs, or agnostic to the whole issue, it’s clear that the 10th Amendment carries huge implications and receives less attention than it deserves. This Amendment may not be as popular as the 1st or 2nd, yet it remains one of the most impactful in our daily lives, and the ongoing abortion debate is only further proof of this. Some of our most controversial and impactful issues do not fit neatly into our Constitution, and much of what needs to be decided is often relegated to the states. Thus, understanding this system is important for understanding why these issues arise and how to solve them.