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ROE V. WADE
What is the legal legacy of the 1973 Supreme Court decision on abortion? January 30, 1998 |
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Questions asked
in this forum:
Shouldn't the Supreme Court interpret laws, not make them? Should the state legislatures have decided the abortion issue? Did Roe v. Wade changed the public perception of the Supreme Court? How have privacy rights been used since Roe v. Wade? Will Roe v. Wade eventually be reversed?
NewsHour Backgrounders
January 15, 1998
The Republican party debates establishing a litmus test over partial birth abortions.
February 19, 1997
The Supreme Court rules on the right to demonstrate outside abortion clinics.
January 22, 1997:
Demonstrations mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
October 16, 1996
The Supreme Court considers the right to protest outside abortion clinics.
September 19, 1996
A report on the new abortion drug RU486.
Browse the NewsHour's coverage of law and health.
OUTSIDE LINKS
National Right to Life Committee
Center for Reproductive Law and Policy
Alan Guttmacher Institute
A summary of international laws and policies, from the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy.
Although its been 25 years since the ruling, to the thousands who assembled outside the Supreme Court on Thursday, January 22, 1998, the case of Roe v. Wade is anything but closed.
In the 1973 decision, the court eliminated a checkerboard of state laws and made abortion legal across the country. The 7-2 ruling stated that abortion was a private matter and that privacy was a constitutionally protected right. As a result, it pushed a fractured state by state debate into a national one and prompted scattered groups to mobilize into pro-choice and pro-life movements. These activists have become some of the most powerful lobbies in American politics, who wage legal and electoral war over whether the Supreme Court decision can be overturned.
Although activists have been targeting Roe v. Wade almost since the day it was settled, there has been only one case that successfully chipped away at the original ruling. In 1992, the decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey allowed states the right to impose more restrictions on abortions. Otherwise, Roe v. Wade has remained virtually intact since the decision was handed down.
If sheer numbers could gauge the country's attitudes, then it could be argued that the U.S. has embraced the Supreme Court ruling. Since 1973, over 30 million abortions have taken place in the United States, 1.4 million in 1994 alone, giving the U.S. the highest abortion rate in the West.
And yet, for many, the issue is a wrenching one, and many Americans appear torn, even though they accept that abortion should be legal. One recent study showed that the majority of Americans agree with the Roe v. Wade decision, but believe restrictions should be placed on abortions. Some go so far as to say they agree with the interpretation of the constitutional "right to privacy" that allows abortion, but still feel the procedure equates to murder.
Abortion opponents have argued that the Supreme Court interfered with the democratic process by removing the debate from state legislatures where it belonged, and instead imposed the will of nine Justices on an entire nation.
And while individual rights are considered the cherished base of U.S. law, the Constitution does not mention the right of "privacy" anywhere. Justice Harry A. Blackmun, who argued the idea of privacy rights when he penned the Roe v. Wade decision, could not use any specific sections of the Bill of Rights or previous court rulings to explain his argument. Instead he used various Amendments, particularly the Fourteenth Amendment's idea of personal liberty, to explain the basis for his decision.
What is the legal legacy of Roe v. Wade? Did the Supreme Court usurp the legislative role of government? Did Roe v. Wade introduce privacy rights into U.S. law?
Our guests include Cynthia Gorney, former Washington Post reporter and author of "Articles of Faith: A Frontline History of the Abortion Wars," Janet Benshoof, president of the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy and Mary Spaulding-Balch, state legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee.
Shouldn't the Supreme Court interpret laws, not make them? Should the state legislatures have decided the abortion issue? Did Roe v. Wade changed the public perception of the Supreme Court? How have privacy rights been used since Roe v. Wade? Will Roe v. Wade eventually be reversed?
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