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22 - Atmospherics: Abortion Law and Philosophy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2009

By
Anita L. Allen
Edited by
Francis J. Mootz III
Francis J. Mootz III
Affiliation:
University of the Pacific, California
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Summary

Respect for human life finds an ultimate expression in the bond of love the mother has for her child.

(Gonzales 2007: 1634)

From the positivists the realists take the insistence on concrete data. … The profession at large still shows, at times, the influence of the natural law.

(Llewellyn 1934: 212)

While we find no reliable data to measure the phenomenon, it seems unexceptionable to conclude some women come to regret their choice to abort the infant life they once created and sustained. … Severe depression and loss of esteem can follow.

(Gonzales 2007: 1634)

Police officers with cadaver-sniffing dogs, shovels and a backhoe dug in the backyard of a home Monday where the bodies of four infants have been found since last week. The police say the infants belong to Christy L. Freeman, 37, a taxi company owner and mother of four. Ms. Freeman has been charged with murder in the death of one of the infants, a male fetus in the 26th week of gestation found in a vanity under a bathroom sink.

(“Bodies” 2007: A15)

In 1934, Karl N. Llewellyn published a lively essay trumpeting the dawn of legal realism, “On Philosophy in American Law.” The charm of his defective little piece is its style and audacity. A philosopher might be seduced into reading Llewellyn's essay by its title; but one soon learns that by philosophy Llewellyn only meant atmosphere. His concerns were the “general approaches” taken by practitioners, who may not even be aware of having general approaches.

Type
Chapter
Information
On Philosophy in American Law , pp. 184 - 192
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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References

“Bodies of 4 Infants Found at Maryland Home.” New York Times, July 31, 2007, A15.
Bradwell v. State, 16 Wall. 130 (1873).
Califano v. Goldfarb, 430 U.S. 199 (1977).
Gonzales v. Carhart, 127 S. Ct. 1610 (2007).
Hodgson v. Minnesota, 497 U.S. 417 (1990).
“Investigators Work to Tie Dead Fetuses to Taxi Driver.” http:www.wbalttv.com/news/13788193/detail.html (July 31, 2007).
Llewellyn, Karl. “On Philosophy in American Law.” U. Pa. L. Rev. 82.3 (1934): 205–12.Google Scholar
Muller v. Oregon, 208 U.S. 412 (1908).
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban X, Pub. L. No. 108-105, H.R. 760, sec. 3, 18 U.S.C. 1531.
Pfaelzer, Jean. Driven Out: The Forgotten War against Chinese Americans. New York: Random House, 2008.Google Scholar
Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992).
Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danforth, 428 U.S. 52 (1976).
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896).
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).
Rust v. Sullivan, 500 U.S. 173 (1991).
Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914 (2000).
United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996).
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490 (1989).

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