Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1973

Publication Information

15 B.C. Indus. & Com. L. Rev. 307 (1973-1974)

Abstract

It is not my purpose here to criticize the abortion decisions in detail. Professor Robert M. Byrn has exposed the many specific errors and evasions found in the majority opinions in those cases. As Professor Byrn demonstrates, the Supreme Court's opinions in Wade and Bolton are an intellectual shambles. I will not try to cover the same detailed ground that Professor Byrn did. Rather, after examining the medical evidence which establishes that the unborn child is a human being from the moment of conception, this article will evaluate the propriety of excluding this class of human beings from the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment. Thereafter, the jurisprudential significance of the underlying theory of the decisions-the theory that an innocent human being can be legitimately defined as a non-person and subjected to death at the discretion of others-will be analyzed. Finally, possible remedies for the decisions will be discussed.

Comments

Reprinted with permission of the Boston College Industrial & Commercial Law Review (now the BC Law Review).

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