The U.S. Supreme Court made history in January 1973 when it deemed a 7-2 vote in Texan law banning abortions unconstitutional. The judges held that such laws violated women’s right to privacy which was, as they interpreted, implicit in the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of liberty in the due process clause.
More than 40 years later, the decision still stands, despite staunch opposition from pro-life politicians and organizations. Now, it is under scrutiny yet again.
Sen. Rand Paul introduced the Life at Conception Act to Congress on March 14. The bill, if passed, would effectively ban abortions, regardless of the circumstances of conception.
The Supreme Court judges who presided over the 1973 lawsuit wrote in their decision, “We need not resolve the difficult question of when life beings…the judiciary, at this point in the development of man’s knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer,” adding that “If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant’s case (i.e. ‘Roe,’ who sought the abortion), of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the (14th) Amendment.”
It is this wording that Life Cycle Assesment, along with its 15 Republican co-sponsors, including Paul, is targeting.
“The Life at Conception Act legislatively declares what most Americans believe and what science has long known—that human life begins at the moment of conception, and therefore is entitled to legal protection,” Paul said in a press release. “The right to life is guaranteed to all Americans in the Declaration of Independence and ensuring this is upheld is the Constitutional duty of all members of Congress.”
An overview of the bill reads that technological and medical advances allow people to detect life much earlier in the pregnancy than was previously possible. Doctors can now detect a fetal heartbeat five weeks after conception; brainwaves are detectable after eight weeks. The bill stipulates it is not seeking a constitutional amendment—which requires a two-third majority vote in both houses of Congress and ratification by 38 states—to overturn Roe v. Wade, rather, it is using the existing language in the 14th Amendment. In bypassing an amendment, it eliminates extra red tape and requires only a majority vote in both houses and the president’s signature to go into effect.
LCA has not gone undetected by those who oppose it. National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan commented on the bill in an interview with Ms. Magazine, a feminist publication.
“This is the latest example of hypocrisy from politicians who said they want less government in our lives, yet propose bills like this one that would open the door to more political interference in our personal, private decisions,” Keenan said. “If this bill resembles past versions, it would ban abortion—even in cases of rape or incest and threatens to outlaw birth control.”
