Which statement accurately describes the contract clause's effect?

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The contract clause bars state laws that retroactively weaken the obligations under contracts that have already been formed. It protects the certainty and integrity of commitments by prohibiting states from altering contract terms after the fact. The statement that best captures this is that states cannot impair existing contractual duties. It isn’t an absolute, unconditional shield—there are doctrines allowing limited, temporary impairments in certain emergency contexts—but the baseline rule is a prohibition on impairing contract obligations. The other formulations are inconsistent because impairment without limitation, automatic voiding of private contracts, or applicability only to government contracts do not reflect how the clause operates in general.