Roe v. Wade: Why It’s Still Wrong 33 Years Later
Thirty-three years ago, Justice Harry Blackmun (a recent appointee of President Richard Nixon) wrote the most farcical and constitutionally inaccurate opinion of the 20th Century–Roe v. Wade.
Roe was premised upon the so-called right to privacy which Blackmun “found” in the Constitution. Blackmun, after conducting a judicial séance of the Constitution, found in the murky shadows of due process, liberty, and the prohibition of unlawful searches and seizures penumbras of privacy that guaranteed a woman’s right to abort her child on a whim. The Democratic Party (and Specter) hold Roe up as a holy relic of constitutional history, despite its weak constitutional footing.
I still find in hard to understand how Blackmun could believe that a fetus, the child creation of a mother and father, which he called “unborn” could not be a “person” worthy of protection under the Constitution. I find it harder to believe, constitutional questions aside, that he felt that in his heart and mind, which was the basis of his decision.
My wife and I are expecting are first child. There is absolutely no way you can tell me that our baby is not a person, a living and sentitent being. Blackmun used the label “unborn” to imply that the fetus had no independent life, that it was not a child. However, we are all dependent beings, not independent. Those not “unborn” need oxygen to breath, water to drink, etc. It is impossible to create these vital necessities on our own.
Every child born is precious and deserves protection. Speaking to those who participated in the “March for Life”, President Bush stated:
You believe, as I do, that every human life has value, that the strong have a duty to protect the weak, and that the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence apply to everyone, not just to those considered healthy or wanted or convenient. These principles call us to defend . . . all who are weak and vulnerable, especially unborn children.
Despite my misgivings about Roe, I do believe in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s health is in danger, that abortion should be permitted. However, abortion is not the answer for unwanted pregnancy–which is want Roe and its progeny have sanctioned.