A conservative legal scholar makes the case for protection by the Constitution.
 | By Eleanor Barkhorn Editor at Large, Opinion |
What makes a person a person? |
This is the question at the heart of a guest essay by Erika Bachiochi, a conservative legal scholar, in which she lays out a case for why fetal life is worthy of protection by the Constitution and by each of us as individuals. She argues that there is a widespread belief in American law and culture of "the rights-bearing person as fundamentally self-owning and autonomous." But despite that, a truer definition of what it means to be a person is grounded in an understanding that we are all "dependent and needy." |
By Bachiochi's definition, a fetus is no less human for its reliance on its mother; its dependence, in fact, makes it all the more worthy of protection. "It is precisely the unborn child's state of existential dependence upon its mother, not its autonomy, that makes it specially due care, nurture and legal protection too," she writes. |
As many have pointed out, the end of Roe v. Wade is really just the beginning of a new phase in America's arguments over what abortion access should look like. We've published several essays examining the issues at play and the path forward: questioning the legitimacy of the Supreme Court, arguing that reproductive rights are indeed written into the Constitution, offering concerned readers guidance around what they can do if they are upset about the end of Roe. Bachiochi's essay adds to this conversation by illuminating how many people who oppose abortion are thinking about what comes next. |
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