The Right to Abortion: Deeply Rooted in the Democratic Traditions of the United States
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the justices supporting the majority decision declared rights “not deeply rooted in our tradition” were not protected by the U.S. Constitution. In the case of a right to abortion, most U.S. States, at the time of the Fourteenth Amendment’s ratification in 1868, had laws that criminalized abortion. Therefore, abortion was not deeply rooted in the traditions of the United States and, consequently, not protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. This argument relies on a narrow interpretation of tradition and potentially could be applied to a collection of rights established after 1868. This essay challenges the Court’s assertion and argues the right to abortion and the practice of abortion are deeply rooted in the nation’s traditions and supported by deeply held values of liberty, individual conscience, and freedom of religious expression. To support this claim, a feminist rhetorical analysis of abortion rhetoric between 1800 and 1973 was conducted. The analysis considers news media, activist discourse, and legal and judicial rhetoric.
