1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910783190203321

Autore

Graber Mark A

Titolo

Rethinking abortion [[electronic resource] ] : equal choice, the Constitution, and reproductive politics / / Mark A. Graber

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Princeton, N.J., : Princeton University Press, c1996

ISBN

1-4008-0301-2

1-4008-1183-X

1-282-75301-0

9786612753015

1-4008-2197-5

Edizione

[Course Book]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (255 p.)

Disciplina

363.4/6/0973

Soggetti

Abortion - Political aspects - United States

Abortion - Government policy - United States

Abortion - Moral and ethical aspects - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [209]-236) and indexes.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction. Sublime Theories, Ugly Facts -- Chapter I. The Clash of Absolutes Revisited -- Chapter II. Abortion Law in Action -- Chapter III. Equal Choice -- Chapter IV. Rule by Law -- Chapter V. Realizing Equal Choice -- Conclusion. The Allure of Pro-Life -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index of Cases -- General Index

Sommario/riassunto

Mark Graber looks at the history of abortion law in action to argue that the only defensible, constitutional approach to the issue is to afford all women equal choice--abortion should remain legal or bans should be strictly enforced. Steering away from metaphysical critiques of privacy, Graber compares the philosophical, constitutional, and democratic merits of the two systems of abortion regulation witnessed in the twentieth century: pre-Roe v. Wade statutory prohibitions on abortion and Roe's ban on significant state interference with the market for safe abortion services. He demonstrates that before Roe, pro-life measures were selectively and erratically administered, thereby subverting our constitutional commitment to equal justice. Claiming that these



measures would be similarly administered if reinstated, the author seeks to increase support for keeping abortion legal, even among those who have reservations about its morality. Abortion should remain legal, Graber argues, because statutory bans on abortion have a history of being enforced in ways that intentionally discriminate against poor persons and persons of color. In the years before Roe, the same law enforcement officials who routinely ignored and sometimes assisted those physicians seeking to terminate pregnancies for their private patients too often prevented competent abortionists from offering the same services to the general public. This double standard violated the fundamental human and constitutional right of equal justice under law, a right that remains a major concern of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.