Dobbs, Named in Abortion Case Ending Roe, Had Little to Do With It

Dr. Thomas E. Dobbs III, the man whose name on Friday became synonymous with the Supreme Court decision to let states ban abortions, had almost nothing to do with the landmark case.

The case, known as Dobbs v. Jackson, bears Dr. Dobbs’s name because he leads Mississippi’s health department and is in charge of regulating the only abortion clinic in the state, Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

When the clinic sued, in 2018, over a state law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, it named the state health officer as a defendant. At the time, the health officer was Dr. Mary Currier. But when she retired later that year, she was replaced by Dr. Dobbs — whose name was affixed to the historic lawsuit.

Days after a draft of the Supreme Court opinion was leaked to Politico in May, Dr. Dobbs wrote on Twitter that he had “no direct involvement in any component of this legal action.” He has said little, if anything, about the case since.

Hours after the Supreme Court ruling on Friday, Dr. Dobbs, who did not respond to an email seeking comment, posted a tweet celebrating health workers in Mississippi for their work combating Covid-19.

As the top health official during the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Dobbs has largely been focused on managing the state’s response; he has had no involvement in the lawsuit over abortions even as the case bearing his name worked its way up to the Supreme Court. In an interview last month with WLBT in Jackson, Miss., he said the unity of the initial response to the pandemic eventually gave way to political disagreements over how much to alter daily life in the name of public health.

“Especially early on, it was a little bit easier because everybody was pretty unified in their concern around the need to sort of do a hard reset,” Dr. Dobbs said, later adding, “But that sort of unanimity — that sort of cohesion — did devolve over time as I think we’ve all seen.”

This year, Dr. Dobbs announced that he would resign at the end of July, saying he was planning to “step back into the academic world.”

He first began working for the state health department in 2008 and served in several roles over the years, including as the state’s top epidemiologist. His career has been focused on stopping the spread of infectious diseases, and he has worked to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and other illnesses. He was chosen for the top role at the health department by the State Board of Health, whose members are appointed by Mississippi’s governor.