About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

15 J. Contemp. L. 131 (1989)
Will There Be a Constitutional Right to Abortion after the Reconsideration of Roe v. Wade

handle is hein.journals/jcontemlaw15 and id is 135 raw text is: Will There Be a Constitutional Right to Abortion After the Reconsideration of Roe v. Wade? James Bopp, Jr.* In the waning weeks of the 1988 presidential campaign, Justice Harry Blackmun, author of Roe v. Wade,' declared to a law school audience, Will Roe v. Wade go down the drain? I think there's a very distinct possibility that it will-this term. You can count the votes.2 If Blackmun's oracle proves unreliable as to this term, the changes he perceives on the Supreme Court (along with the likely imminent replacement of the author of Roe and his like-minded col- leagues by Justices with a different judicial philosophy) favor even- tual fulfillment of the prophecy. Given the widespread rejection of Roe's constitutional analysis, it seems inevitable that the analysis, at least, will be reconsidered. When Roe's moribund privacy analysis is overruled, will the regulation of abortion return to the states, or will some new doctrine be recruited to continue constitutional protection for the abortion choice? In both legal literature and recent abortion litigation, efforts have been made to rewrite Roe in an attempt to give it a firmer constitu- tional foundation. Alternative theories have been asserted as sup- porting an abortion right. This Article evaluates the analyses con- tending for Roe's replacement. None is adequate. There is no principled way to derive a right to abortion from either the Constitu- tion or the general principles of law. Apart from judicial fiat, which is increasingly unlikely in an epoch of judicial restraint, no new consti- tutional protection can be extended to the abortion choice in the af- termath of Roe's demise. * B.A., Indiana University, 1970; J.D., University of Florida, 1973; Partner, Brames, McCor- mick, Bopp & Abel, Terre Haute, Indiana; General Counsel, National Right to Life Committee, Inc.; President, National Legal Center for the Medically Dependent and Disabled, Inc.; mem- ber, Congressional Biomedical Ethics Advisory Committee; former member, President's Com- mittee on Mental Retardation; Editor, ISSUES IN LAW & MEICINE. The author gratefully acknowledges the research and writing assistance provided by Richard Martin, J.D., and Richard E. Coleson, J.D. 410 U.S. 113 (1973). Blackmun Sees Switch on Abortion, USA Today, Sept. 14, 1988, at Al. 131

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most