The Human Touch Revealing All that is Real
Why Can't Women Be Both Pro-Choice AND Pro-Life? It's Possible With Common-Sense Limitations on Abortions
Under an "originalist" approach, the Court would have had to determine what the word "persons" was understood to mean when the 14th Amendment was written and ratified. "Originalism" is often equated with "Textualism" (where judges look at the meaning of the words and intent at the time they were written) A honest analysis would have looked not only at the definition of the term "persons" around the time of 1868, but also at society's view of abortion at that time. In fact, for a claimed right to be covered by the 14th Amendment and hence free from government/state regulation, that right would have had to have been considered an essential liberty right at the time the Amendment was adopted. In other words, the Court should have asked two questions: "What did the term 'persons' mean back in 1868?" And, "Was abortion considered a fundamental liberty right back in 1868?" [That is, the Court should have asked: Was the asserted right to an abortion "so rooted in the traditions and conscience of our people as to be ranked as fundamental," Snyder v. Massachusetts, 291 U.S. 97, 105 (1934)].
Josh Craddick, a Harvard Law student recently had a Law Review article published in which he looked into the definition of "persons." In his article ("Protecting Prenatal Persons: Does the Fourteenth Amendment Prohibit Abortion?"), he noted that layman's dictionaries at the time of the adoption of the 14th Amendment (adopted on July 28, 1868) treated the concepts of humanity and personhood interchangeably. He also consulted William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, a treatise that had profound influence on legal thinking, was used in American law schools, was relied on by the Supreme Court, and continues to be cited even today in Supreme Court decisions. It is cited at least 10-12 times each year. Blackstone expressly recognized that personhood and the right to life existed before birth. He set forth a simple and clear legal standard: "Where life can be shown to exist, legal personhood exists" (emphasis added). A look back through history shows that there were no laws to specifically protect the unborn prior to "quickening" (when the mother feels the baby begin to kick and move around) and prior to birth, and that makes sense in light of the generally-accepted definition of "personhood." A pregnant woman was carrying a "life," and hence she was carrying a new person.
With respect to the second question ("Was abortion considered an essential/fundamental liberty right back in 1868?"), Craddick researched the societal view of abortion back in the day. In his article, he showed that many of the states that voted to ratify the 14th Amendment had laws criminalizing abortion. What does that mean? It seems to confirm that at the time, Americans, state lawmakers, and government officials understood personhood to include the unborn, just as Blackstone defined it. It shows that society in 1868 viewed personhood and life in much the same way that pro-lifers understand.
Craddick wrote:
When the Amendment was adopted in 1868, the states widely recognized children in utero as persons. Nearly every state had criminal laws proscribing abortion, and most of these statutes were classified among 'offenses against the person.' There can be no doubt whatsoever that the word 'person' referred to the fetus." Twenty‐three states and six territories referred to the fetus as a 'child' in their statutes proscribing abortion. At least twenty‐eight jurisdictions labeled abortion as an 'offense against the person' or an equivalent criminal classification. Nine of the ratifying states explicitly valued the lives of the preborn and their pregnant mothers equally by providing the same range of punishment for killing either during the commission of an abortion. The only plausible explanation for this phenomenon is that the legislatures considered the mother and child to be equal in their personhood. Furthermore, ten states (nine of which had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment) considered abortion to be either manslaughter, assault with intent to murder, or murder.
The adoption of strict anti‐abortion measures in the mid‐nineteenth century was the natural development of a long common‐law history proscribing abortion. Beginning in the mid‐thirteenth century, the common law codified abortion as homicide as soon as the child came to life (animation) and appeared recognizably human (formation), which occurred approximately 40 days after fertilization. Lord Coke later cited the "formed and animated standard," rearticulating it as "quick with childe."
Craddick went on to point out that even by the mid-nineteenth century, courts and states alike, were increasingly rejecting the "quickening" standard as scientifically obsolete and replacing it with fertilization. Imagine that !!
Sadly, we all know the reasons the justices of the Supreme Court made that colossally-erroneous assumption that "personhood" means "someone who walks around, who has an independent life outside a woman's womb." First, the Court knew that society couldn't be responsible for all the unwanted births; the burden they would impose on society would break our system of welfare and social services. Second, the case moved up through the court system at a time when the Women's Rights Movement was fighting for equality in the workplace and in the home, with equality resting squarely on her ability to determine when, or if, she would reproduce. A woman could not control her career, her future, or even her burden at home if she were to be held hostage by her uterus and her God-given ability to bring forth new life. The Court, obsessed with social justice and equality, saw the case as one to give the Women's Rights Movement what it wanted - the ability to finally be equal in the workforce.
I think the abortion discussion in our country needs to go in this general direction - going back to a proper, more originalist and textualist analysis of what the right is or what it should be, and to replace the erroneous assumption that a "person" (for 14th Amendment purposes) is one that is capable of living and functioning outside the womb to the definition in place at the time the amendment was adopted, which was the start of life. Only by honoring the definition in place at the time do we know exactly which classes of individuals were intended to be covered by it - to have their rights and privileges acknowledged and protected. Our national-level pro-life activism needs to go in this direction if we can ever hope of limiting the number of abortions, of limiting the number of unborn babies killed, and of educating our girls and young women on being responsible with their bodies.
As I mentioned earlier, the New York "late-term abortion" law has renewed great controversy on the topic of abortion. The sense that I am getting is that the controversy is not necessarily about women having the right to abort an inconvenient pregnancy but about how expansive that right is and whether it needs reasonable limitations. After all, none of the "actual" rights embraced in our Bill of Rights, such as the right to exercise one's religion freely, the right of free speech, the second amendment, the fourth amendment, etc are without limitations.
I think a case can be made that the right needs limitations, and if that can be achieved, then women can be both pro-life and pro-choice, if that makes any sense. If we look at a "Balancing of Rights" approach rather than a "Balancing of Interests" approach - that is, if we balance the rights of the woman to control her reproduction with the big daddy of them all, the right to life, of the unborn child, rather than balance the rights of the woman to terminate her pregnancy with the interest of the state in protecting the pregnancy - then we will come to a point in the pregnancy when the developing fetus becomes a "life." At that point, society can then legally deny abortions (except for situations such as rape, incest, or risk to the woman's life). A woman will enjoy a period of time to decide whether she wants to continue the pregnancy (hence, pro-choice), but if she waits too long, then she will not be able to abort the baby and will not be able to take a life (hence, pro-life).
My point in analyzing the Roe v. Wade case and in writing this article is to start a conversation and a debate that has us siding more with life and in finding ways to cut down on the innocent lives that are taken in the name of "women's rights."
With that in mind, I wanted to share some back-and-forth I've had with those who don't exactly think like my on the issue of abortion. I've cut and pasted my comments and the responses I've gotten from a social media post on a friend's facebook page announcing New York's "Reproductive Health Act."
ABORTION ARTICLE - John Tedesco post
MY COMMENT: I hope the recent news out of New York of a "Late Term Abortion" law that passed, allowing for the termination of an unborn baby up until full term development, shocks your conscience. In a span of just 11 days, we heard national leaders like Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer call a border wall to stop the flood of deadly drugs and human trafficking immoral" while an entire state believes it is moral to kill a baby up until the moment it takes its very first breath of air. I struggle, as a human being and as a woman, to find any logic remaining in this country. If any of our legislatures only had the decency to pass a law to define life, even if it is at 8-12 weeks, then the number of abortions would be greatly decreased. That's all it would take to stop the wholesale killing of the unborn. But no legislature, including the US Congress, seems willing to do it. It would force women to make the decision to abort the fetus inside them very early on, hopefully before a heartbeat and the commitment to a human life. I don't think I'm unreasonable or out of line in taking this position.
VINNY (responding to me): It's a woman's body. She should have complete control over it. It's not a hard concept.
MY RESPONSE (to Vinny): That's a very selfish and narrow-minded way to look at it. Plus it totally ignores the role women play in the grand scheme of things, as created by God for the primary purpose to propagate the human race. Democrats and liberals refer to abortion in terms of "reproductive health" and as a "woman's right to control her reproduction." It is never put in terms of what it does to the developing fetus or the unborn child, which is death. Why isn't the bill titled "The Unborn Have no Right to Life" Law?
VINNY (responding to me): A woman needs to have the ability to control when she becomes a mother. A man never has to be burdened by a baby, and neither should a woman.
MY RESPONSE (to Vinny): I know this sounds absolutely archaic to liberal women, but a woman has always had the right to control her reproductive capability. She has the right to keep her legs closed during her fertile days; she has the right to say no. She has the right to take contraceptive pills or use contraceptive devices. And if she uses neither, then she has the right to demand that her sex partner wear a condom or forego fooling around. All of these PREVENT conception and allow a woman to control her reproduction rights. All of these PREVENT the immoral act of killing a living fetus on its way to developing into a human being. Again, I know this sounds archaic and to the liberal woman, presents too many barriers to a loose and casual lifestyle and to spontaneous sex with someone they just met. But in the balance of things - prevention vs. harm - I think we can all agree that prevention is the best course. God and nature gave women the blessing of giving life and propagating the species; He didn't intend for her to have the unfettered right to fornicate without consequences. The consequence is the greatest privilege of all - to create new life. It's so sad so many women think of it as a nuisance and a burden.. as a curse.
COMMENT from Konabird2: As one individual said last night, "A clump of cells feels no pain." How did we get to the point where as refer to a baby as merely "a clump of cells" ?
MY RESPONSE (to Konabird2): To a woman or girl who doesn't want the pregnancy, what she is carrying is just "a clump of cells." To a woman who wants the pregnancy, the minute she sees that blue line, she immediately begins to call her fetus a "baby." It all depends on the woman's intention with her pregnancy.
COMMENT from Sandy S: This is a dishonest strawman argument. The two circumstances are entirely different save chemicals are involved in both and in cleaning toilets and killing germs.. Let's talk about when a person is a person or how do we take care of all the unwanted children that no abortion laws are going to have to be raised. Those are real questions
MY RESPONSE (to Sandy S): Sandy, I agree with you that we can't take care of all the unwanted children that, without abortion, would be born. They would be born to those that don't want them, can't take care of them, are mentally and psychologically unfit to raise them, or who will simply abuse and ignore them. In all of these situations, the child will not be raised properly and will likely be "damaged goods." They will also be born to those who can't afford to raise them, which will in turn become another burden on taxpayers. Taken together, if all the babies conceived were to be born our resources and our services would be burdened to the point where it fatally strains our system. This was actually predicted by economists Cloward and Piven many years ago. My point is that women MUST do their part in preventing the killing of babies by preventing the creation of them in the first place. They have it within their power to do so. We can't accept the notion that just because we can't provide for all the unwanted babies that we should allow them to be killed at any time up until the moment of their birth.
Sandy S (responding to me): Is fetal heartbeat the gauge of living. When the child cannot survive without the mothers body? Is life only at birth when a child can breathe on its own? I'm not sure if i want government making that decision anyway, as the mother is closest and most involved with the real consequences of the decision. Shouldn't it be up to her alone? Unfortunately, lots of people want to step in and tell others what to do, how to live and love, how to die, and who to worship. It's kind of amazing how important some people think their opinion should be held in absolute regard.
MY RESPONSE (back to Sandy S): I think science can help make the decision. A woman who wants an abortion bad enough will not be fair to the life inside her. My point is that having an honest debate on a law to define life (in order to stop the killing of the unborn) is a better route by far than allowing the torture and killing of an unborn child up until the moment he/she takes it first breath. It is a negotiated solution to a problem that as it stands now totally ignores the rights of a newly developed human being.
COMMENT from Bloody Roses: What about rape and sexual abuse? Also, not all sexual relations are for reproductive reasons... Woman are allowed sexual pleasure and orgasms too.
MY RESPONSE (to Bloody Roses): Rape and sexual assault get special consideration, as they have always gotten special consideration and exceptions in society. No one is denying women are allowed sexual pleasure... this issue isn't about that. It's about balancing the desires and sexual freedom with nature's limits on, and purposes for, women I order that we don't unnecessarily kill the unborn.
COMMENT from Grace Madej: But I thought y'all were AGAINST birth control?
Go Back
Josh Craddick, a Harvard Law student recently had a Law Review article published in which he looked into the definition of "persons." In his article ("Protecting Prenatal Persons: Does the Fourteenth Amendment Prohibit Abortion?"), he noted that layman's dictionaries at the time of the adoption of the 14th Amendment (adopted on July 28, 1868) treated the concepts of humanity and personhood interchangeably. He also consulted William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, a treatise that had profound influence on legal thinking, was used in American law schools, was relied on by the Supreme Court, and continues to be cited even today in Supreme Court decisions. It is cited at least 10-12 times each year. Blackstone expressly recognized that personhood and the right to life existed before birth. He set forth a simple and clear legal standard: "Where life can be shown to exist, legal personhood exists" (emphasis added). A look back through history shows that there were no laws to specifically protect the unborn prior to "quickening" (when the mother feels the baby begin to kick and move around) and prior to birth, and that makes sense in light of the generally-accepted definition of "personhood." A pregnant woman was carrying a "life," and hence she was carrying a new person.
With respect to the second question ("Was abortion considered an essential/fundamental liberty right back in 1868?"), Craddick researched the societal view of abortion back in the day. In his article, he showed that many of the states that voted to ratify the 14th Amendment had laws criminalizing abortion. What does that mean? It seems to confirm that at the time, Americans, state lawmakers, and government officials understood personhood to include the unborn, just as Blackstone defined it. It shows that society in 1868 viewed personhood and life in much the same way that pro-lifers understand.
Craddick wrote:
When the Amendment was adopted in 1868, the states widely recognized children in utero as persons. Nearly every state had criminal laws proscribing abortion, and most of these statutes were classified among 'offenses against the person.' There can be no doubt whatsoever that the word 'person' referred to the fetus." Twenty‐three states and six territories referred to the fetus as a 'child' in their statutes proscribing abortion. At least twenty‐eight jurisdictions labeled abortion as an 'offense against the person' or an equivalent criminal classification. Nine of the ratifying states explicitly valued the lives of the preborn and their pregnant mothers equally by providing the same range of punishment for killing either during the commission of an abortion. The only plausible explanation for this phenomenon is that the legislatures considered the mother and child to be equal in their personhood. Furthermore, ten states (nine of which had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment) considered abortion to be either manslaughter, assault with intent to murder, or murder.
The adoption of strict anti‐abortion measures in the mid‐nineteenth century was the natural development of a long common‐law history proscribing abortion. Beginning in the mid‐thirteenth century, the common law codified abortion as homicide as soon as the child came to life (animation) and appeared recognizably human (formation), which occurred approximately 40 days after fertilization. Lord Coke later cited the "formed and animated standard," rearticulating it as "quick with childe."
Craddick went on to point out that even by the mid-nineteenth century, courts and states alike, were increasingly rejecting the "quickening" standard as scientifically obsolete and replacing it with fertilization. Imagine that !!
Sadly, we all know the reasons the justices of the Supreme Court made that colossally-erroneous assumption that "personhood" means "someone who walks around, who has an independent life outside a woman's womb." First, the Court knew that society couldn't be responsible for all the unwanted births; the burden they would impose on society would break our system of welfare and social services. Second, the case moved up through the court system at a time when the Women's Rights Movement was fighting for equality in the workplace and in the home, with equality resting squarely on her ability to determine when, or if, she would reproduce. A woman could not control her career, her future, or even her burden at home if she were to be held hostage by her uterus and her God-given ability to bring forth new life. The Court, obsessed with social justice and equality, saw the case as one to give the Women's Rights Movement what it wanted - the ability to finally be equal in the workforce.
I think the abortion discussion in our country needs to go in this general direction - going back to a proper, more originalist and textualist analysis of what the right is or what it should be, and to replace the erroneous assumption that a "person" (for 14th Amendment purposes) is one that is capable of living and functioning outside the womb to the definition in place at the time the amendment was adopted, which was the start of life. Only by honoring the definition in place at the time do we know exactly which classes of individuals were intended to be covered by it - to have their rights and privileges acknowledged and protected. Our national-level pro-life activism needs to go in this direction if we can ever hope of limiting the number of abortions, of limiting the number of unborn babies killed, and of educating our girls and young women on being responsible with their bodies.
As I mentioned earlier, the New York "late-term abortion" law has renewed great controversy on the topic of abortion. The sense that I am getting is that the controversy is not necessarily about women having the right to abort an inconvenient pregnancy but about how expansive that right is and whether it needs reasonable limitations. After all, none of the "actual" rights embraced in our Bill of Rights, such as the right to exercise one's religion freely, the right of free speech, the second amendment, the fourth amendment, etc are without limitations.
I think a case can be made that the right needs limitations, and if that can be achieved, then women can be both pro-life and pro-choice, if that makes any sense. If we look at a "Balancing of Rights" approach rather than a "Balancing of Interests" approach - that is, if we balance the rights of the woman to control her reproduction with the big daddy of them all, the right to life, of the unborn child, rather than balance the rights of the woman to terminate her pregnancy with the interest of the state in protecting the pregnancy - then we will come to a point in the pregnancy when the developing fetus becomes a "life." At that point, society can then legally deny abortions (except for situations such as rape, incest, or risk to the woman's life). A woman will enjoy a period of time to decide whether she wants to continue the pregnancy (hence, pro-choice), but if she waits too long, then she will not be able to abort the baby and will not be able to take a life (hence, pro-life).
My point in analyzing the Roe v. Wade case and in writing this article is to start a conversation and a debate that has us siding more with life and in finding ways to cut down on the innocent lives that are taken in the name of "women's rights."
With that in mind, I wanted to share some back-and-forth I've had with those who don't exactly think like my on the issue of abortion. I've cut and pasted my comments and the responses I've gotten from a social media post on a friend's facebook page announcing New York's "Reproductive Health Act."
ABORTION ARTICLE - John Tedesco post
MY COMMENT: I hope the recent news out of New York of a "Late Term Abortion" law that passed, allowing for the termination of an unborn baby up until full term development, shocks your conscience. In a span of just 11 days, we heard national leaders like Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer call a border wall to stop the flood of deadly drugs and human trafficking immoral" while an entire state believes it is moral to kill a baby up until the moment it takes its very first breath of air. I struggle, as a human being and as a woman, to find any logic remaining in this country. If any of our legislatures only had the decency to pass a law to define life, even if it is at 8-12 weeks, then the number of abortions would be greatly decreased. That's all it would take to stop the wholesale killing of the unborn. But no legislature, including the US Congress, seems willing to do it. It would force women to make the decision to abort the fetus inside them very early on, hopefully before a heartbeat and the commitment to a human life. I don't think I'm unreasonable or out of line in taking this position.
VINNY (responding to me): It's a woman's body. She should have complete control over it. It's not a hard concept.
MY RESPONSE (to Vinny): That's a very selfish and narrow-minded way to look at it. Plus it totally ignores the role women play in the grand scheme of things, as created by God for the primary purpose to propagate the human race. Democrats and liberals refer to abortion in terms of "reproductive health" and as a "woman's right to control her reproduction." It is never put in terms of what it does to the developing fetus or the unborn child, which is death. Why isn't the bill titled "The Unborn Have no Right to Life" Law?
VINNY (responding to me): A woman needs to have the ability to control when she becomes a mother. A man never has to be burdened by a baby, and neither should a woman.
MY RESPONSE (to Vinny): I know this sounds absolutely archaic to liberal women, but a woman has always had the right to control her reproductive capability. She has the right to keep her legs closed during her fertile days; she has the right to say no. She has the right to take contraceptive pills or use contraceptive devices. And if she uses neither, then she has the right to demand that her sex partner wear a condom or forego fooling around. All of these PREVENT conception and allow a woman to control her reproduction rights. All of these PREVENT the immoral act of killing a living fetus on its way to developing into a human being. Again, I know this sounds archaic and to the liberal woman, presents too many barriers to a loose and casual lifestyle and to spontaneous sex with someone they just met. But in the balance of things - prevention vs. harm - I think we can all agree that prevention is the best course. God and nature gave women the blessing of giving life and propagating the species; He didn't intend for her to have the unfettered right to fornicate without consequences. The consequence is the greatest privilege of all - to create new life. It's so sad so many women think of it as a nuisance and a burden.. as a curse.
COMMENT from Konabird2: As one individual said last night, "A clump of cells feels no pain." How did we get to the point where as refer to a baby as merely "a clump of cells" ?
MY RESPONSE (to Konabird2): To a woman or girl who doesn't want the pregnancy, what she is carrying is just "a clump of cells." To a woman who wants the pregnancy, the minute she sees that blue line, she immediately begins to call her fetus a "baby." It all depends on the woman's intention with her pregnancy.
COMMENT from Sandy S: This is a dishonest strawman argument. The two circumstances are entirely different save chemicals are involved in both and in cleaning toilets and killing germs.. Let's talk about when a person is a person or how do we take care of all the unwanted children that no abortion laws are going to have to be raised. Those are real questions
MY RESPONSE (to Sandy S): Sandy, I agree with you that we can't take care of all the unwanted children that, without abortion, would be born. They would be born to those that don't want them, can't take care of them, are mentally and psychologically unfit to raise them, or who will simply abuse and ignore them. In all of these situations, the child will not be raised properly and will likely be "damaged goods." They will also be born to those who can't afford to raise them, which will in turn become another burden on taxpayers. Taken together, if all the babies conceived were to be born our resources and our services would be burdened to the point where it fatally strains our system. This was actually predicted by economists Cloward and Piven many years ago. My point is that women MUST do their part in preventing the killing of babies by preventing the creation of them in the first place. They have it within their power to do so. We can't accept the notion that just because we can't provide for all the unwanted babies that we should allow them to be killed at any time up until the moment of their birth.
Sandy S (responding to me): Is fetal heartbeat the gauge of living. When the child cannot survive without the mothers body? Is life only at birth when a child can breathe on its own? I'm not sure if i want government making that decision anyway, as the mother is closest and most involved with the real consequences of the decision. Shouldn't it be up to her alone? Unfortunately, lots of people want to step in and tell others what to do, how to live and love, how to die, and who to worship. It's kind of amazing how important some people think their opinion should be held in absolute regard.
MY RESPONSE (back to Sandy S): I think science can help make the decision. A woman who wants an abortion bad enough will not be fair to the life inside her. My point is that having an honest debate on a law to define life (in order to stop the killing of the unborn) is a better route by far than allowing the torture and killing of an unborn child up until the moment he/she takes it first breath. It is a negotiated solution to a problem that as it stands now totally ignores the rights of a newly developed human being.
COMMENT from Bloody Roses: What about rape and sexual abuse? Also, not all sexual relations are for reproductive reasons... Woman are allowed sexual pleasure and orgasms too.
MY RESPONSE (to Bloody Roses): Rape and sexual assault get special consideration, as they have always gotten special consideration and exceptions in society. No one is denying women are allowed sexual pleasure... this issue isn't about that. It's about balancing the desires and sexual freedom with nature's limits on, and purposes for, women I order that we don't unnecessarily kill the unborn.
COMMENT from Grace Madej: But I thought y'all were AGAINST birth control?
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