Not sure I could agree with him on this.
On the other hand, there are only a few instances now where the federal government has the right to arrest a person for murder. It would be hard to fit an abortion into those constitutional guidelines. It’s not a crime across state lines, it’s not a crime against a federal official.
It might attach to the 14th amendment, but that has been stretched pretty thin already.
We already make most murder a “states-rights” issue. For example, each state decides whether killing an intruder is murder or self-defense. State attorneys always decide whether to prosecute a death as a murder or manslaughter, with each state having their own rules.
But I’m certainly tempted to use the 14th amendment to claim a civil rights application for the unborn. That’s because of my emotional response to abortion. I’m not sure if that is an appropriate conservative limited-government constitutional position though.
Interestingly, if we passed a constitutional amendment saying that life begins at conception, it would not necessarily force states to prosecute all abortion as murder. For example, a state might still decide that a doctor can abort a child if he determines the life of the mother is at risk. It would be like a “self-defense” law.
I suppose you could write a constitutional amendment that made all abortion punishable (although the constitution doesn’t generally define criminal law or set punishments.
Is the child a human person?
If your answer is "yes," they clearly must be protected by all, and afforded the equal protection of the laws by every state. It's not optional. It's imperative.
If your answer is "no," you agree with the Blackmun court and the rest is all moot anyway.
There is no legitimate power to alienate the God-given, unalienable rights of the people. There is only sworn constitutional duty to protect those rights, equally.