Roe Will Fall

Gary L. Bauer

American Values

While Roe v. Wade has stood for 40 years, it stands on very flimsy ground, and I believe it will fall.

Its moral flaws are self-evident. The court's majority claimed in 1973 that it was in no position then to "speculate" as to when life begins. Basic biology has always been clear on that point, but ultrasound technology has given us a window to the womb, so we can now witness the life growing there.

But as a matter of law, even liberals freely admit that Roe is deeply flawed. In a column this week, Tim Carney wrote about abortion's "foundation of lies." Consider this excerpt:

"'One of the most curious things about Roe,' wrote liberal Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe 'is that, behind its own verbal smokescreen, the substantive judgment on which it rests is nowhere to be found.' Alan Dershowitz, another legendary liberal Harvard Law professor, called Roe 'judicial activism' lacking 'clear governing constitutional principles.'

"Even [Justice] Ruth Bader Ginsburg called Roe 'Heavy-handed judicial intervention' that 'was difficult to justify.'

"'As a matter of constitutional interpretation and judicial method, Roe borders on the indefensible,' wrote Ed Lazarus, an Obama administration appointee and avowed pro-choicer who clerked for the decision's author, Justice Harry Blackmun."

There are more examples, but you get the point, which brings me to my next point. The men and women we elect to public office appoint and confirm the justices who sit on the Supreme Court. On the issue of life, public opinion is moving our way. That is why it is so important for men and women of faith to remain engaged in the public policy arena.