Abortion is the Most Widespread Abuse

Michigan journal of gender & law, 2000

2006

The legal position of the foetus raises difficult questions about the status which we accord the developing human being within society. Most conceptions of criminal liability are predicated on the person; usually, there is a victim and an aggressor, both of whom must be legally relevant persons before doctrines of criminal law can be applied. Conceptions of personhood in this context are most often taken in relatively straightforward terms. Surely we know who is, and is not, a “legally relevant person”? And yet, the question is not easily answered in respect of the foetus. Within the UK and American traditions, a “legally relevant person” has not included the unborn child, but increasing developments in the field of foetal rights, particularly in some American jurisdictions, casts doubt on this. In analysing the status of the foetus under national criminal laws, there are two questions to be posed. First, is the foetus capable of being described as a victim and secondly, should reco...

2004

up to a situation in which more women are spending more years of their lives outside marriage and without direct dependence on men, focused on activities other than domesticity and childrearing."); Sylvia A. Law, Rethinking Sex and the Constitution, 132 U. PA. L. REV. 955, 1017 (1984) ("[R]estricting access to abortion dramatically impairs the woman's capacity for individual selfdetermination."). However, access to abortion continues to be restricted for many women as a result of their poverty and the constitutionality of state and federal denials of funds for abortion. See, e.g., Harris v. McRae, 448 U.S. 297, 316 (1980) (upholding the Hyde Amendment restricting federal funds for abortions for indigent women); Maher v. Roe, 432 U.S. 464, 474 (1977) (holding that states need to allocate funds to pay for abortions for indigent women). JOURNAL OF CONSTITUTIONAL LAW historical second-class status. 3 As Rosalind Petchesky notes, changes concomitant with the Court's decision in Roe also occurred in women's social and political status. These changes included a "new range of social conditions that redefined the terms of a 'normal life' for women. 5 Even the Court, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, took note of the importance of abortion to women's equality, stating that "[t]he ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives." 6 Nevertheless, and perhaps surprisingly, Roe's holding has in some ways led to the derogation of women's choices, women's autonomy, and, consequently, women's citizenship. Courts have used the Supreme Court's holding in Roe, articulating the state's compelling interest in a viable fetus, outside of the abortion context to proscribe pregnant women's health care decision making. 8 For example, both state and federal courts allow treatment of pregnant women when 3 See, e.g., CATHARINE A. MACKINNON, TOWARD A FEMINIST THEORY OF THE STATE 184 (1989) ("Liberals have supported the availability of the abortion choice ... usually on the implicit view that reproductive control is essential to sexual freedom and economic independence."); PETCHESKY, supra note 2, at 292 (arguing that the decision in Roe genuinely reflected a progressive liberal climate, which viewed abortion as a fundamental right). 4 PETCHESKY, supra note 2, at 116. 5 Id.; see also Law, supra note 2, at 981 ("Nothing the Supreme Court has ever done has been more concretely important for women.").

Pregnant Woman and Unborn Child: Legal Adversaries, 2002

Southern California Review of Law and Women S Studies, 1992

Washington and Lee Law Review, 2014

would like to thank the other participants in this conference and the editors of the Washington and Lee Law Review for their helpful comments on my Article. Thank you as well to Raqketa Williams for her research assistance. I join the editors in mourning the tragic loss of Lara Gass, a gracious and remarkable young woman who played a central role in organizing the conference and making the participants feel welcome. 1. See Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113, 163 (1973) ("With respect to the State's important and legitimate interest in potential life, the 'compelling' point is at viability.").

Indian journal of medical ethics

While granting a prisoner the right to abort her foetus, a recent Bombay High Court judgment recognised a woman's absolute right to abortion. This article discusses the judgment in detail and the bioethical debates over abortion rights. It deals with the restrictions imposed by the law not only on when the foetus can be aborted, but also who can get the abortion done and in what circumstances.

JAMA, 2019

Ethics, 2006