Abortion Case: Rode v Wade

Did Roe Cause a Backlash?

Not in the sense we think it would​ ​ Majority of Courts ruled abortion legal​ ​ Majority of Americans favored access to abortion

A right to privacy

14th Amendment due process: - Women legitimately may face pressures related to childbirth - This does not mean an unrestricted right - States also have interests These interests increase overtime

Consitutional Claim

A right to privacy?

Summary of Case

Appellant Jane Roe, a pregnant mother who wished to obtain an abortion, sued on behalf of all woman similarly situated in an effort to prevent the enforcement of Texas statutes criminalizing all abortions except those performed to save the life of the mother.

Concurring

Clarifying rights to privacy as centered on Due Process clause​ ​ Substantive due process

State's POV

Discourage illicit sexual conduct Medical safety Protecting prenatal life

Elite influence

It took about 10 years before the Moral Majority coalesced in a new Republican coalition​ ​ Masses "sorted" into parties & also just took-up the party's position​ Legitimacy of the Court rests in its ability to teach the public

Dissent

Justice Rehnquist. The right to an abortion is not universally accepted, and the right to privacy is thus not inherently involved in this case.

Conflicts prior to Roe

The Catholic Church​ ​ 1972 Presidential Campaign​ ​ Abortion as a strategic partisan realignment

Decision

The Court held that a woman's right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision gave a woman total autonomy over the pregnancy during the first trimester and defined different levels of state interest for the second and third trimesters.

Political parties & coalition maintenance/expansion

​ Emergence of the "family values" & "moral majority" movement​ ​ The politicization of these interests is rooted in racial integration​