"The debate on abortion was halted after 1973. Even as progressive a stalwart as Ruth Bader Ginsburg felt this was wrong."
Absolutely. The real problem, in my opinion, is that Alito is right (even though I think the legal opinion he wrote was surprisingly flawed and, in places, flat out wrong). Roe is shaky law at best. And is framed arou…
"The debate on abortion was halted after 1973. Even as progressive a stalwart as Ruth Bader Ginsburg felt this was wrong."
Absolutely. The real problem, in my opinion, is that Alito is right (even though I think the legal opinion he wrote was surprisingly flawed and, in places, flat out wrong). Roe is shaky law at best. And is framed around a physician's right to make decisions for their patients, instead of a woman's right to make decisions about her body and her life. As you say, Ginsburg saw this problem too.
As I suggested at the beginning of this piece, to me, this is an issue of equal access to the opportunities life has to offer. Women face a hugely disproportionate burden when it comes to childbirth. That's nobody's fault. But abortion law, like any other law, should be about giving everybody as equal an opportunity as possible to participate in life.
At some point, of course, that "everybody" includes the baby. Which is where the debate really lies. But it seems reasonably settled within the medical community that that point is somewhere around the third trimester (contrary to Alito's claims, abortion was legal throughout the US until 1829, if performed before 15-20 weeks). So the people who are arguing that the point is conception need to say explicitly what basis they have for that claim. And the answer can't be, "God," or "that's just how I feel."
The line for abortion was the “quickening” (the point where the baby’s movements can be detected), which was placed around 15-20 weeks.
In 1829, New York made post-quickening abortions a felony, and pre quickening abortions a misdemeanour (Illinois made them a misdemeanour in 1827 so technically they were the first state to criminalise abortion). The AMA pushed for further criminalisation after that.
"The debate on abortion was halted after 1973. Even as progressive a stalwart as Ruth Bader Ginsburg felt this was wrong."
Absolutely. The real problem, in my opinion, is that Alito is right (even though I think the legal opinion he wrote was surprisingly flawed and, in places, flat out wrong). Roe is shaky law at best. And is framed around a physician's right to make decisions for their patients, instead of a woman's right to make decisions about her body and her life. As you say, Ginsburg saw this problem too.
As I suggested at the beginning of this piece, to me, this is an issue of equal access to the opportunities life has to offer. Women face a hugely disproportionate burden when it comes to childbirth. That's nobody's fault. But abortion law, like any other law, should be about giving everybody as equal an opportunity as possible to participate in life.
At some point, of course, that "everybody" includes the baby. Which is where the debate really lies. But it seems reasonably settled within the medical community that that point is somewhere around the third trimester (contrary to Alito's claims, abortion was legal throughout the US until 1829, if performed before 15-20 weeks). So the people who are arguing that the point is conception need to say explicitly what basis they have for that claim. And the answer can't be, "God," or "that's just how I feel."
Thank you.
Gah! I meant *first* trimester. Third trimester is obviously a little late in the game.😅
Yep, the abortion claim, at least according to all the research I’ve done, is true. This is the first link I found with a quick Google search, but the same info is repeated in many places (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/04/arts/roe-v-wade-abortion-history.html).
The line for abortion was the “quickening” (the point where the baby’s movements can be detected), which was placed around 15-20 weeks.
In 1829, New York made post-quickening abortions a felony, and pre quickening abortions a misdemeanour (Illinois made them a misdemeanour in 1827 so technically they were the first state to criminalise abortion). The AMA pushed for further criminalisation after that.