ORIGINALISM, ABORTION, AND THE THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT

• Published in: Columbia law review Vol. 112; no. 7; pp. 1917 - 1945
• Main Author: Koppelman, Andrew
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• 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

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...