In other words, the state may not kill you, incarcerate you, or deprive you of your property without due process.
BTW: care to guess how cases of abortion caused by the actions of a third party (i.e., Jonh Doe negligently or willfully causing spontaneous abortion without the consent of the mother) were adjudicated?
As torts. Not as murder.
The unborn child was legally considered property.
The due process clause would forbid forcible abortion by the state on that basis.
You would need the equal protection clause.
Now, let's look at the equal protection clause:
"...nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside..."
Unborn children are not within the jurisdiction of the 14th Amendment.
re the point at hand, does it matter?
As torts. Not as murder.
What is happening, or does happen, does not equate to what ought to be the case. If that were true, there would be no tight to bear arms. Just because judges and the congress don't understand the 2nd amendment, doesn't make their decisions the truth.
The unborn child was legally considered property. The due process clause would forbid forcible abortion by the state on that basis.
So were slaves. See my above comments. This does not change the fact that the unborn are persons, and thus protected by the 5th AND 14TH amendments when correctly interpreted.
Let me ask you a question: Do you grant that the unborn fetuses are persons?
"...nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside..." Unborn children are not within the jurisdiction of the 14th Amendment.
False disjunct. That's not what it says. the words you quoted are in additiona to, not in subtraction to, the words that protect ANY PERSON from being deprived of life. PLEASE also remember that 5th amendment when you're considering the 14th.