{"id":98403,"date":"2016-08-01T13:07:23","date_gmt":"2016-08-01T17:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=98403"},"modified":"2016-08-01T13:07:23","modified_gmt":"2016-08-01T17:07:23","slug":"the-constitution-mentions-the-right-to-life-abortion-nope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/the-constitution-mentions-the-right-to-life-abortion-nope\/","title":{"rendered":"The Constitution mentions the right to life. Abortion? Nope"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Occasionally, people send me comments they’ve seen and ask for my thoughts. Sometimes crafting a response isn’t easy. That wasn’t the case here:<\/p>\n

\"constitutional-right-to-life\"<\/p>\n

As you can see, the author thinks pro-lifers should read the Constitution. She might wanna take a look at it herself.<\/p>\n

If she did, she\u2019d realize that Section 1 of the 14th Amendment<\/a> says a state can’t \u201cdeprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clearly, people do<\/i> have a Constitutional right to life, and they don’t have to be 18 to enjoy it. And if a fetus is a person, then that right should protect her or him as well. Who said that? Justice Harry Blackmun–the guy who gave us Roe v. Wade<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Justice Blackmun wrote the majority opinion in Roe<\/i>, and on page 156 he noted:<\/p>\n

\n

The appellee and certain amici<\/i> argue that the fetus is a \u201cperson\u201d within the language and meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. In support of this, they outline at length and in detail the well known facts of fetal development. If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant\u2019s case, of course, collapses, for the fetus\u2019 right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the Amendment. The appellant conceded as much on reargument.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Blackmun got around this by deciding a fetus simply isn\u2019t a person. Given that there\u2019s there\u2019s a heartbeat<\/a> less than a month after conception, fingerprints<\/a> at ten weeks, and the ability to feel pain<\/a> at 20, it seems odd that personhood doesn\u2019t start until birth. And while the \u201cfacts of fetal development\u201d are obvious, the Constitutional \u201cright\u201d to an abortion is a lot more obscure.<\/p>\n

\"levatino-ad-LAN\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Constitution never mentions abortion. Still, Blackmun insisted it was protected under the \u201cright of privacy.\u201d Where\u2019s that right laid out? Well,\u00a0Blackmun himself admitted, \u201cThe Constitution does not explicitly mention any right of privacy.\u201d That didn\u2019t stop him from finding one:<\/p>\n

\n

This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment\u2019s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment\u2019s reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman\u2019s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In other words, Blackmun ignored a right that\u2019s explicitly listed (the right to life) while embracing one he couldn\u2019t locate. If that doesn\u2019t make sense to you, you\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n

Pro-lifers want justices who understand what the Constitution says and interpret it accordingly. That\u2019s why we need to tell the presidential candidates how much judicial appointments<\/a> matter.<\/p>\n

As for the comment above, I agree that pro-lifers should \u201cread the Constitution.\u201d It would be nice if our opponents did the same.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Occasionally, people send me comments they’ve seen and ask for my thoughts. Sometimes crafting a response isn’t easy. That wasn’t the case here: As you can see, the author thinks pro-lifers should read the Constitution. She might wanna take a look at it herself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":65138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Constitution mentions the right to life. Abortion? Nope<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"People have a Constitutional right to life regardless of age. 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