Roe v. Wade has been subject to substantial judicial and scholarly criticism over the past forty-five years, but without an attempt specifically to explore how to overrule it in a majority opinion. This Article attempts to remedy that by drafting a model opinion that could be used to overrule Roe. The predicate for this Article’s […]
The Supreme Court Sows Confusion about Abortion Law
Clarifying and settling the law are among the most important responsibilities of the Supreme Court in the American constitutional system, and something the Court is frequently called on to do. “Ultimately it is this Court’s responsibility to clarify the scope of its own holdings,” as Justice William Brennan said more than a quarter of a century ago. It […]
Like 21 States, Congress should pass a five-month limit on abortion
In 2007, for the first time since 1973, five Supreme Court justices expressed grave concern with late-term abortions, in a case called Gonzales v. Carhart, and upheld the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Numerous lawyers and elected officials read the Supreme Court’s decision and thought the Justices were serious. So, since then, 21 states have enacted a prohibition […]
‘Constantly approximated:’ Aim for achievable changes in law, not ideal defeats
Part of the problem that Republicans are having in Congress is that too many of them seem to expect perfect or permanent laws. Virtually all legislation is provisional. Nations live with provisional governments and provisional treaties. They deal with current conditions. They are temporary, with the expectation that they will change. Some laws should change when conditions do. This is […]
Chile legalizes abortion, but rightly rejects Roe v. Wade logic
This summer, Chile legalized abortion for the first time since 1989. The legislation, slated to take effect in January 2018, legalizes abortion in cases of “risk to the mother’s life,” “fetal malformation incompatible with life,” and rape. The scope of these conditions — how they will be applied — remains to be seen. A case testing the […]
Is Roe v. Wade unraveling?
In 2013, a federal judge surveyed the state of abortion practice in Alabama, pointing out that the medical profession had abandoned abortion, that almost no doctors did them, and that providers who did were flown in from out of state or out of the country. The judge had stumbled on some of the reasons that […]
How the Next President Can Protect Human Life
When Donald Trump commented that “the laws are set” on abortion, he articulated a profound misunderstanding of the legal realities of the issue and the impact they will have on the next president of the United States. The laws on abortion have not been “set” since the Supreme Court nationalized the issue with its 1973 […]
The back alley the justices created … and ignore
Five Supreme Court justices — Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor — canceled health and safety regulations for Texas abortion clinics in June with their decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. These were long-standing, generally applicable regulations for all ambulatory surgical treatment centers in that state. But when […]
Today is Lincoln’s Birthday
As we commemorate President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday today (February 12, 1809), reflecting on his life inspires us in our work to secure comprehensive protection of human life from conception to natural death. While Lincoln’s accomplishments as president—including his drive to secure “a new birth of freedom”—are most familiar to Americans, his political actions and speeches […]
The Legal Legacy of Dennis Horan, Esq. for Protecting Human Life—Chairman of the Board of Americans United for Life—on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his death
Between 1970 and his death on May 1, 1988, Dennis J. Horan had an enormous influence on the development of American law protecting human life. Dennis had a significant impact on the development of the law protecting human life in several ways: Influencing the abortion litigation leading up to Roe v. Wade, and educating leaders […]
Summary of the Alabama Supreme Court’s decisions today involving drug use during pregnancy
The Alabama Supreme Court released two decisions today holding that the Alabama state “chemical endangerment” statute protects an unborn child without regard to the stage of pregnancy. Ex parte Ankrom; Ex parte Kimbrough. The decisions mean that the “chemical endangerment” statute can be used in Alabama to criminally prosecute women who take drugs while pregnant. […]
Commentary on a 40 year old medical opinion misses numerous points
In the midst of the feeding frenzy over Todd Akin’s now-infamous rape remark, a number of pro-life groups, including Americans United for Life have fallen victim to a misunderstanding, at best. A 40-year-old collection of essays we funded prior to Roe v. Wade included an essay by Dr. Fred E. Mecklenburg that has been used […]
Roe v. Wade: The View from 1993
1992 was a year of disappointing setbacks for pro-life Americans. When most observers thought the Supreme Court was on the verge of overruling its 1973 decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, a bare majority of five justices reaffirmed the Roe v. Wade decision on June 29, 1992, at least in its essentials—a […]
New study of Irish health and population data shows positive women’s health trends while Ireland’s abortion law has been in effect
For years, the United Nations, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and other abortion proponents have claimed that legal abortion contributes to reducing maternal mortality and to improving women’s health. Abortion advocates argued that the affects of abortion were negligible, while pregnancy could be dangerous. In fact, one of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals […]
Irish Report Reveals Health Risks of Abortion
Planned Parenthood has long claimed that legal abortion promotes maternal health. But a report published in Ireland in December contradicts that notion. The report, entitled Ireland’s Gain, published December 15 by the Pension And Population Research Institute (PAPRI) of London, shows positive women’s health trends, and positive population trends, while Ireland’s restrictive abortion law has […]
The Road to Roe (and Doe): Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Today is the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court oral arguments in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), and Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973). (Actually the first round of arguments, though they didn’t know that at the time. The re-arguments in Roe and Doe (second round) were presented on October 11, 1972. […]
A Tribute to Tom Donnelly
I was very sorry to hear of Tom Donnelly’s death last Monday. I have missed my conversations with Tom since I last talked with him last June. Tom Donnelly was an urbane gentleman, accomplished lawyer, wise counselor, and careful financial steward. He often took the long view of organizational development and demanded frank analysis. His […]
Legal Protection of the Unborn Child and the Latest Science on Fetal Development
The number of state and federal laws providing legal recognition of and protection for the unborn child has grown substantially in recent decades, despite the Roe v. Wade decision. That’s because the Roe decision was focused on abortion and did not address the states’ capacity to legally protect the unborn child, as a human being, […]
Lawsuit filed in Louisiana over Act 490
One of the consequences of Roe v. Wade was a public health vacuum that has not been filled for 37 years. The Court created the vacuum by eliminating the abortion laws of all 50 states, and then empowered abortionists to sue to prevent public health laws that would fill the vacuum. The continuing impact of […]
Why the States Did Not Prosecute Women for Abortion Before Roe v. Wade
By Clarke D. Forsythe
The political claim—that women were or will be prosecuted or jailed under abortion laws—has been made so frequently by Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and NOW over the past 40 years that it has become an urban legend. It shows the astonishing power of contemporary media to make a complete falsehood into a truism.
For 30 years, abortion advocates have claimed—without any evidence and contrary to the well-documented practice of ALL 50 states—that women were jailed before Roe and would be jailed if Roe falls (or if state abortion prohibitions are reinstated).
This claim rests on not one but two falsehoods:
Testimony in Opposition to IL House Bill 6205
Testimony in Opposition to House Bill 6205 Before the House Human Services Committee Clarke Forsythe, Esq., Senior Counsel, Americans United for Life (AUL) Wednesday, March 10, 2010 Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony in opposition to House Bill 6205. Summary Drafted in the context of federal constitutional abortion law, and following the […]
New Murder Case Brings California’s Fetal-Homicide Ban into Public Eye
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday that a Los Angeles man, Joshua Woodward, has been arrested for the intentional homicide of his unborn child. As public comments on the case posted to the online Chronicle story show, this kind of prosecution provokes public confusion. Here are some answers to questions not addressed in the Chronicle‘s […]
What Did Barack Obama Promise Planned Parenthood?
Last year before the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Barack Obama told pro-abortion activists: “The first thing I’d do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.” With a single stroke of the pen, Barack Obama would wipe away virtually every state law on abortion nationwide. Instantly, it will undo thirty-seven years of legal work, […]
Rights of Conscience and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience . . . Article 18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes . . . freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, […]
