Faith and Law More Radical than Roe: The New Absolutism on Abortion
The 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which struck down the pro-life statutes of every state in the Union, was described by John Hart Ely as “not constitutional law,” that is, he wrote, “this super- protected right is not inferable from the language of the Constitution.” Sweeping as Roe v. Wade was –and the precedent has been used to strike down literally hundreds of pro-life laws since 1973 - today’s advocates for unlimited abortion work daily to expand its boundaries to further deny protection to children on the threshold of and even after birth, to compel taxpayer support of all abortions, to deny informed consent and parental notice, and to distribute abortion pills for “do-it-yourself” use, a practice that will make homes and dormitories the 21 st century analog of back alleys.
A panel of distinguished scholars and researchers will discuss these themes and describe how the new radicalism on abortion transcends anything America has seen before. A half century after Roe, U.S. abortion policy continues to speed on a collision course with itself. On the one hand, human life can be and is being saved at ever younger gestational ages through the wonders of perinatal medicine, and dozens of states are acting anew to recognize these life-affirming practices and precepts. On the other hand, the campaigns to nullify the legal status of the innocent and vulnerable unborn grow increasingly raw and brutal across a number of states and now the Biden-Harris Administration.