possiblel change of mind

[RJLipkin at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/23/2005 10:34:06 AM Eastern Standard Time,  
dcruz at law.usc.edu writes:

Couldn't  the Court easily treat abortion as sui generis?

        I think David's suggestion  is right about the uniqueness of 
abortion, but not about its character.
 
        Even granting the  personhood of the fetus for argument sake, the  
sui generis nature of the  relationship between the woman and the fetus (unborn 
child for those who prefer  that description) suggests that it's still the 
woman's choice that should be  honored, not necessarily by morality but by 
government imposing even the  "correct" morality upon the woman. The biological 
dependency renders this  relationship, I would think, quantitatively, if not 
qualitatively, different  from any other kinds of dependencies common in human 
relations. It's the sui  generis nature of this relationship which augurs against 
governmental, if not  moral, decisions compelling the woman to carry the fetus 
to term. Other  people are probably "incredibly vulnerable," and, if so, 
that's not what makes  abortion sui generis.  Morality might, for argument sake, 
clearly dictate  that the woman not abort the fetus, but that is clearly 
different from the  government doing so.
 
Bobby
 

Robert Justin  Lipkin
Professor of Law
Widener University School of  Law
Delaware
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