Transcript Slide 1

Killing and the Ethical Erosion
from Roe v. Wade
By Lynn D. Wardle
Bruce C. Hafen Professor of Law
J. Reuben Clark Law School
Prepared for the Mini-Symposium on
Reflections on 35 Years of Roe v. Wade: Pro and Con
January 22, 2008
306 JRCB, BYU
Prohibition of Killing Is An Ethical
Cornerstone of our Legal System
• Moses: “Thou Shalt Not Kill” (Exodus 20:13)
• Hobbes: Society formed to escape “continual
fear, and dangers of violent death”
• Locke (“America’s Philosopher”): Law of Nature
“no one ought to harm another in his life” but
“ought to do as much as he can to preserve the
rest of mankind” and “what tends to the
preservation of the life … of another”
Abortion is killing
• Abortion is not murder, but it is killing
• Abortion causes (and is intended to cause)
the death of a living human being, homo
sapien, a living human embryo or fetus.
Nillson 1966 photo, 11-week fetus
Nillson 1966 photo, 29-week fetus
William Blackstone, Commentaries on the
Laws of England (1756)
• Rights of Persons:
“Life is the immediate gift of God, a right inherent
by nature in every individual; and it begins in
contemplation of law as soon as an infant is able to
stir in the mother’s womb. For if a woman is
quick with child, and by potion or otherwise,
killeth it in her womb; or if anyone beat her,
whereby the child dieth in her body, and she is
delivered of a dead child; this, though not murder,
was by the ancient law homicide or manslaughter.
But the modern law doth not look upon this
offense in quite so atrocious a light but merely as a
heinous misdemeanor.”
Declaration of Independence
• “[A]ll Men are created equal, that they are
endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the
Pursuit of Happiness – That to secure these
Rights Governments are instituted among men .
. . .”
Erosion of the Ethic of Respect for
Life
• More killing of aged, infirm, disabled,
handicapped
• More child abuse
• More violent crime
• Less compassion, humanity, sensitivity
• “Hearts of men wax cold”
Slavery and Abortion
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Slavery
Reject humanity of slaves
Deny ‘personhood’ slaves
Clm: Best for slaves
Clm: No right tell slaveowner
Clm: Slave owners’ right choose
Clm: Constitution protects
Clm: abolition lead to chaos
Clm: unfair impose on class (S-O)
Clm: “person” only when set free
Clm: leave alone, gradual abol
Hierarchical view race
Vigorous suppress abolitionist speech
Clm: Abolitionists religious fanatics
Lincoln: Is a man not a man because
he is Black?
Abortion
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Reject humanity of unborn child
Deny personhood of human UC
Clm: Best for unwanted unborn cren
Clm: No right tell woman what to do
Clm: Women’s right to choose
Clm: Constitution protects
Clm: Restrict abortion lead to chaos
Clm: Unfair impose burden (Wo)
Clm: “Person” only when born
Clm: Not restrict, become ‘rare’
Hierarchical view human life
Draconian laws limit pro-life speech
Clm: Pro-lifers are religious fanatics
Pro-Life: Is a child not a child because
she is yet in the womb?
Liberals and Conservatives, Men and
Women Criticize Roe
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Bickel
Ely
Epstein
Cox
Glendon
The Continuing Holocaust of Abortion
in the USA
• Nearly 50 million reported lives destroyed by
abortion since Roe (1973)
• Plateau of abortion level (slow drop) if
account for demography
• 1.21 million abortions reported in 2005
• 47% repeat abortions
• Nearly ¼ of all pregnancies end in abortion
• 37% of all abortions after at 9 or more weeks!!
• Less than 2 percent (2%) of all abortions for
‘hard cases’
The annual number of legal abortions increased through
the 1970s, leveled off in the 1980s and fell in the 1990s
Number of abortions (in 000s)
1,800
1970: Abortion laws liberalized in 15 states*
1,600
1,400
Roe v. Wade, Jan. 22, 1973
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
1969 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005
Source: GITiA08 = Trends in Abortion in the United States, 1973–2005, Guttmacher Institute 08
Abortions, 1972-2005
Abortions: 1972-2005 (AGI data)*
Year
Number
Abortions
1972
587,000
1975
Abortion
Rate/
1000
Women
Abortion
% Abortion
Repeaters
Ratio/ 100
Pregnancies
--
--
--
1,034,000
21.7
24.9
15.2 (74)
1980
1,554,000
29.3
30.0
33%
1985
1,589,000
28.0
29.8
41%
1990
1,609,000
27.4
28.0
45%
1995
1,359,400
22.5
25.9
47%
2000
1,313,000
21.3
24.5
48%
2005
1,206,200
19.4
22.4
47%
*The Alan Guttmacher Institute produces the most reliable data on
abortions in the United States. However, even the AGI estimates that 36% of all abortions are unreported. (CDC data is usually 12-19% lower
than AGI because of CDC’s passive methods.)
Many women obtaining abortions have had a previous
abortion, but the proportion has stabilized over time
(GITiA08)
% of abortions obtained by women who had a previous abortion
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003
State Restrictions on Abortion
Parental consent or notification
required for minors
35 states (15 without)
Mandatory counseling
32 states (18 without)
Waiting periods
24 states (26 without)
OK private insurance to exclude
coverage for abortion
4 states (46 without)
Source: PRCH & GI 08, Overview; Guttmacher, 2007
U.S. Abortion Rate Higher Than in Many
Other Industrialized Countries
Abortions per 1,000 women
30
25
21
20
20
20
15
15
17
15
8
10
9
5
0
United
States
Australia
Sweden
Denmark
Canada
England &
Wales
Germany Netherlands
Source: Source: PRCH &GI 08, Overview; Sedgh, 2007
Most Important Reason Given for Terminating
an Unwanted Pregnancy
Concern for/responsibility to other individuals
74%
Cannot afford a baby now
73%
A baby would interfere with school/
employment/ability to care for dependents
69%
Would be a single parent/
having relationship problems
48%
Has completed childbearing
38%
Source: PRCH & GI 2008 An Overview; Finer et al., 2005 (2004 data)
Who Has Abortions: Marital Status
Married, 14%
Unmarried,
86%
Source: PRCH &GI 08, Overview; Henshaw
adjustments to Strauss et al., 2007 (2004 data)
Utah 2005 Abortion Reports:
Reasons for Abortion
• 3,556 abortions in Utah, 3279 reported
reasons
• 22 - mother’s life was endangered (0.7 %)
• 13 - fetal malformation (0.4 %)
• 1 - HIV positive (raising fetal health 0.4 %)
• 2 - rapes (0.1 %; some years 20 rapes)
• 0 - incest
• 1 - “other”
• Total = 39 of 3,279 abortions “serious”(1.2%)
Elie Wiesel, Night
• “Not far from us, flames, huge flames, were
rising from a ditch. Something was being
burned there. A truck drew close and
unloaded its hold: small children. Babies! Yes, I
did see this, with my own eyes . . . children
thrown into the flames.”
• “How was it possible that men, women, and
children were being burned and that the
world kept silent. . . .”
(p. 32, 2006 ed.) (retranslation)
Elie Wiesel, Nobel Speech 1986
• “I swore never to be silent . . . . We must take
sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never
the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor
. . . .”
Id. at 117, 118.
Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for
Something (2000)
What we desperately need today on all fronts . . . are leaders, men
and women who are willing to stand for something. We need
people . . . who are willing to stand up for decency, truth, integrity,
morality, and law and order . . . even when it is unpopular to do so –
perhaps especially when it is unpopular to do so.
....
. . . Never before, at least not in our generation, have the forces of
evil been so blatant, so brazen, so aggressive as they are at the
present time. . . .
....
We are involved in an intense battle. It is a battle between right and
wrong, . . . . [W]e desperately need men and women who, in their
individual spheres of influence, will stand for truth in a world of
sophistry. . . . We need moral men and women, people who stand
on principle, to be involved in the political process. . . .
21 week fetus grasping surgeon’s finger