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CHIEF JUSTICE REHNQUIST announced the judgment of the Court and delivered the opinion of the Court with

respect to Parts I, II-A, II-B, and II-C, and an opinion with respect [*499] to Parts II-D and III, in which JUSTICE WHITE and JUSTICE KENNEDY join., July 3, 1989,

WEBSTER, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI, ET AL. v. REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES ET AL., No. 88-605, SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, 492 U.S. 490; 109 S. Ct. 3040; 106 L. Ed. 2d 410; 1989 U.S. LEXIS 3290; 57 U.S.L.W. 5023

Both appellants and the United States as amicus curiae have urged that we overrule our decision in Roe v. Wade. Brief for Appellants 12-18; Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 8-24. The facts of the present case, however, differ from those at issue in Roe. Here, Missouri has determined that viability is the point at which its interest in potential human life must be safeguarded. In Roe, on the other hand, the Texas statute criminalized the performance of all abortions, except when the mother's life was at stake. 410 U.S., at 117-118. This case therefore affords us no occasion to revisit the holding of Roe, which was that the Texas statute unconstitutionally infringed the right to an abortion derived from the Due Process Clause, id., at 164, and we leave it undisturbed. To the extent indicated in our opinion, we would modify and narrow Roe and succeeding cases.

JUSTICE O'CONNOR, JUSTICE KENNEDY, and JUSTICE SOUTER, June 29, 1992

(announced the judgment of the Court and delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I, II, III, V-A, [*844] V-C, and VI, an opinion with respect to Part V-E, in which JUSTICE STEVENS joins, and an opinion with respect to Parts IV, V-B, and V-D.) PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA, ET AL., PETITIONERS 91-744 v. ROBERT P. CASEY, ET AL., ETC. ROBERT P. CASEY, ET AL., ETC., PETITIONERS 91-902 v. PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA ET AL., No. 91-744, SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, 505 U.S. 833; 112 S. Ct. 2791; 120 L. Ed. 2d 674; 1992 U.S. LEXIS 4751; 60 U.S.L.W. 4795; 92 Daily Journal DAR 8982; 6 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 663

The Court of Appeals found it necessary to follow an elaborate course of reasoning even to identify the first premise to use to determine whether the statute enacted by Pennsylvania meets constitutional standards. See 947 F.2d at 687-698. And at oral argument in this Court, the attorney for the parties challenging the statute took the position that none of the enactments can be upheld without overruling Roe v. Wade. Tr. of Oral Arg. 5-6. We disagree with that analysis; but we acknowledge that our decisions after Roe cast doubt upon the meaning and reach of its holding. Further, THE CHIEF JUSTICE admits that he would overrule the central [**2804] holding of Roe and adopt the rational relationship test as the sole criterion of constitutionality. See post, 505 U.S. at 944, 966. State and federal courts as well as legislatures throughout the Union must have guidance as they seek to address this subject in conformance with the Constitution. Given these premises, we find it imperative to review once more the principles that define the rights of the woman and the legitimate authority of the State respecting the termination of pregnancies by abortion procedures.