ORIGINALISM, ABORTION, AND THE THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT

Does an originalist reading of the Thirteenth Amendment support a right to abortion? Not long ago a negative answer seemed obvious enough to make the question silly. Since then, however, originalism has become more sophisticated. It is now understood that original meaning, not original intent, is th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inColumbia law review Vol. 112; no. 7; pp. 1917 - 1945
Main Author Koppelman, Andrew
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Columbia University School of Law 01.11.2012
Subjects
ABORTION
American slavery
Child molestation
Children
Constitutional Amendments
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
Constitutions
Enslaved women
Evil
Females
Forced labor
Languages
Law and legislation
Morality
Originality
PANEL IV: CONTEMPORARY IMPLICATIONS
Pregnancy
Slave women
SLAVERY
Slaves
Social aspects
Social conditions
Thirteenth Amendment
U.S. states
WOMEN
Women slaves
UNITED STATES
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Summary:Does an originalist reading of the Thirteenth Amendment support a right to abortion? Not long ago a negative answer seemed obvious enough to make the question silly. Since then, however, originalism has become more sophisticated. It is now understood that original meaning, not original intent, is the most appropriate originalist source of constitutional law. The original meaning of constitutional language sometimes focuses on paradigm cases: specific evils that the Constitution aims to keep from recurring. The Thirteenth Amendment's purpose is to end the specific institution of antebellum slavery. A ban on abortion would do to women what slavery did to the women who were enslaved: compel them to bear children against their will.
Bibliography:COLUMBIA LAW REVIEW, Vol. 112, No. 7, Nov 2012, 1917-1945
COLUMBIA LAW REVIEW, Vol. 112, No. 7, Nov 2012: 1917-1945
2019-11-09T16:51:03+11:00
Informit, Melbourne (Vic)
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0010-1958
1945-2268