Posted on 11/05/2005 5:40:37 AM PST by AliVeritas
The word abortion appears nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. Yet less than a week into Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court, abortion is already emerging as the flashpoint of the confirmation debate. It is an apt moment to consider how we got to where this single issue so dominates judicial politics.
The answer is Roe v. Wade, the Court's 7-2 decision that, in one fell judicial swoop, took this deeply divisive social issue out of the hands of voters and their elected legislators. The year was 1973. The consequences have distorted American law and politics ever since.
Go back to late 1960s and early 1970s, before Roe became the most controversial Court decision since Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. Numerous state legislatures had relaxed their hitherto absolute bans on abortion, making it easier for a woman whose health was endangered to obtain one. The burgeoning women's movement had made legalization one of its primary goals.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Seems more likely that most would be welfare recipients, based on the "family" that the babies would come from.
Don't think so, all the SC action since Roe has been aimed at knocking down State's attempts to moderate/rationalize Roe's impact.
I don't think states would suddenly reverse course.
Someone very close to me has had one. I personally think it should be left up to the woman for whatever reason. But when I hear the dems arguement for the whole " it aint a person" I use the heartbeat theory. I still think dems should be aborted.
If liberals could figure out how to count fetus votes in their column, abortion would be illegal in the twinkling of an eye.
I am amazed that Roe v Wade has become the cornerstone of the left's America. The bottom line of democracy and freedom. Described as a fundamental Constitutional right, the essential right to privacy, a crucial womens' health issue, the fundamental qualification for judges, the line which must not be crossed. Almost anything else is negotiable, real Constitutional rights are disposable, but if abortion is threatened, look out.
Excellent comment and exactly what the dems fear.
...any time before January,1973.....that's how the world looked.
I remember a kinda, gentler era.....I remember when life wasn't so cheap.
"Has the person arguing about abortion (pro or con) ever had one? If they are male, I ask if any male lawyer or judge ever had an abortion.
Once I get the normal No. I then ask how can they talk rationally about something they have no knowledge of? If they are members of the Bar I ask them are they willing to let people who have never been to law school become lawyers and judges since personal knowledge of the subject doesnt appear to be a prerequisites for heated and sometime irrational discussions.
One time a woman admitted to having an abortion. At that point I said: Madam, you are, for good or bad, the only person who understands this issue. Would you be so kind as to give me your position and, if possible, explain why? She responded with her position but said the reason was entirely too personal. To which I thanked her for her bravery and told the rest of the people to STFU since we had only one expert among us.
The conversation went quickly elsewhere, which was the objective of the exercise to begin with.
IMHO this should be how all arguments about abortion should be handled - those with personal knowledge of the reasons behind and the physical and emotional impacts should help the rest of us understand this deeply personal issue. All the other talking heads are nothing more than hot air generators and should be viewed as such."
RIDICULOUS. DOES THAT MEAN NO ONE CAN DISCUSS OR MAKE LAWS IN REGARDS TO SLAVERY, CHILD ABUSE, RAPE AND CRIME UNLESS THEY HAVE BEEN PERSNOALLY AFFECTED???????????????? THE ABORTION ARGUMENT CAN BE LOST OR WON SIMPLY ON THE MEDICAL FACTS ABOUT THE UNBORN CHILD AND THE FACT THAT ITS MURDER. YOU DON'T NEED TO HAVE AN ABORTION TO UNDERSTAND THAT.
AND ALL should have opinions and full rights to express such.
I know of what you speak.. yes, through carelessness, irresponsabiltiy and youth, I got a woman pregnant. I found out that "we" had a child years after she decided to abort it. I should have been a part in that decision.. I was a part of creating it. What would my choices have been at the time.. I don't know (I have an idea and there would be another freeper in this world) but I wasn't given a choice.
There'd probably be nearly the same amount of people because of fewer pregnancies. Without abortion as an option, women would find alternate means of birth control, like not getting pregnant in the first place.
Guess again. Multiple state bankrupted by the skyrocketing welfare costs.
Typo correction: "state" = "states"
Die is the correct word, babies who are killed, die! If a fetus is alive, and he/she is, then when they are killed, they die. Life starts the minute the sperm fertilizes the egg, if the fetus isn't alive, how does it grow bigger? Only living thigs grow and mature, a fact pro-choice people seem to easily discard or ignore.
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