Poelker v. Doe

Petitioners

John H. Poelker, et al.

Respondents

Jane Doe, et al.

Petitioners' Claim

That the city of St. Louis, in electing as a policy choice to provide publicly financed hospital services for childbirth but not for nontherapeutic abortions, did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Eugene P. Freeman

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

Frank Susman

Justices for the Court

Warren E. Burger, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William H. Rehnquist, John Paul Stevens, Potter Stewart, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

20 June 1977

Decision

Upheld that the city of St. Louis did not violate Fourteenth Amendment equal protection, thereby reversing the judgement of the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Related Cases

• Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965).
• Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).
• Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973).
• Wulff v. Singleton, 428 U.S. 106 (1976).
• Maher v. Roe, 432 U.S. 464 (1977).
• Bellotti v. Baird, 443 U.S. 622 (1979).

Further Readings

• Mahoney, Hildegarde Marie. "National Health Care Legislation and the Funding of Abortion." America, October 16, 1993, p. 8.