Mirror of Justice

A blog dedicated to the development of Catholic legal theory.
Affiliated with the Program on Church, State & Society at Notre Dame Law School.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

The Personhood Movement

By Rob Vischer

I may be the last to know about this, but I was intrigued by the movement in Colorado (and other states?) to add a 'personhood" amendment to the state constitution.  Details here.  (HT: Howard Friedman) The amendment would be struck down by federal courts, but it raises some interesting issues, such as whether any law allowing abortion -- even in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother -- would unconstitutionally discriminate against preborn persons.  These are just academic questions, it seems to me, at this stage in American legal history.

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I think the most interesting issue the personhood attempts raises is one of strategy. But regarding your question: If you outlaw abortion because of the rights/dignity of the unborn person, I don't see how you can (logically) allow it for rape/incest. If the right is rooted in what the unborn child is by nature, how is that nature affected legally (not to mention morally) by how the child got there? If the right is rooted in the child himself, circumstances of rape and incest are irrelevant to that right. The issue of protecting the life of the mother presents a different question though. That maybe-future-debate you present would be a lot better than the one we are engaged in now, though.