By Invitation | Roe v Wade

Abortion would be best governed by legislatures, says O. Carter Snead

The law professor says such a change would bring America into line with many other countries

THE SUPREME COURT may very well be on the cusp of overturning Roe v Wade, the judicial precedent that declared a fundamental unwritten constitutional right to abortion in 1973. Such a move by the court would return the matter of abortion to the political branches of government. For the first time in nearly 50 years, we in America are poised to rejoin our friends and neighbours around the world who live in the supermajority of nations that govern themselves on the vexed issue of abortion through the deliberative democratic process rather than via the fiat of unelected judges. To do so wisely, justly and humanely will require the practice of civility, charity and honesty.

This article appeared in the By Invitation section of the print edition under the headline “Abortion would be best governed by legislatures, says O. Carter Snead”

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