Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life
National Director, Priests for Life
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan reportedly "considers abortion rights to be settled law" (USA Today, May 21, p. 5A). And we can expect during her confirmation process to hear a number of Senators echo that assertion. Yet America's courts and legislatures have a proud history of changing "settled law."
America has, on various occasions, recovered the recognition of the equal dignity of those who were deprived of their rights and suffered violence which was given legal cover under a different name. This legal cover was often mistakenly recognized by the Supreme Court for a while, but then such decisions were overturned.
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1856) is the most commonly cited instance. The slaveholder's right to property eclipsed and subsumed the slave's right to freedom. But the Constitution was eventually amended to correct the error.
Decisions like Lochner v. New York (1905) show us another error: employers' right to contract eclipsed and subsumed the workers' rights to humane conditions and hours. These abuses were corrected by subsequent Supreme Court decisions like Muller v. Oregon and Bunting v. Oregon.
The "Separate but equal" doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) sanctioning segregation was overturned by Brown v. Board of Education some 58 years later.
Erroneous decisions like Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918) institutionalized child labor. But this was overturned 23 years later by United States v. Darby. A new development -- a "pedagogical moment" -- occurred here in Constitutional law. The question was whether constitutional rights applied to children too. The answer was yes.
Many reversals of Supreme Court cases came about when new evidence was brought forward that made it clear that someone's rights, not previously recognized, were being violated. Thus, Louis Brandeis brought forward the facts about how workers were being harmed.
We are now witnessing the same trend regarding the children in the womb. Evidence that has been around for quite some time demonstrating their humanity is finding its way into legislatures and courts. One of the most striking instances comes out of South Dakota.
Federal courts have upheld South Dakota's law requiring that abortion providers tell women that the procedure destroys a "whole, separate, unique, living human being." This came about because of the evidence presented to the court regarding the humanity of the unborn child.
With hundreds of embryological sciences, and massive evidence of the harm abortion does to women, such evidence, combined with new legal concepts, can challenge Roe vs. Wade in the same way its erroneous ancestral decisions were challenged.
The day after Roe vs. Wade was decided, the New York Times headline read, "Supreme Court Settles Abortion." Yet it has remained the most unsettled issue on our national landscape.
The facts above should shape the way that senators, Supreme Court nominees, and all the rest of us speak about Roe vs. Wade and the so-called "right" to choose an abortion. History should shape our language, and should strengthen our hope that abortion policy can change again just as radically as it did in 1973.
This column can be found online at www.priestsforlife.org/articles/document.aspx?id=3201
Comments on this column? Go to www.AskFrFrank.com
Fr. Frank's columns are podcast. See www.PriestsForLife.org/Podcast
This week's media schedule (priestsforlife.org/media)
Defending Life: Watch on EWTN every Friday at 10pm ET and Saturday at 2:30am ET. Listen on EWTN radio every Friday at 1am ET, Saturday at 6:30pm ET and Sunday at 5am ET. For more information or to listen online go to www.ewtn.com.
June 11-13: Remembering Terri Schiavo
June 18-20: Pro-Life Freedom Rides
June 18-20: Pro-Life Freedom Rides
Hear us on EWTN radio on Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo. Fr. Frank will be Teresa's guest on Wednesday, June 9th from 9:35-10am ET and Janet Morana will be her guest on Friday, June 11th from 9:10am-9:30am. Call-in with questions for Fr. Frank or Janet at 877-573-7825. For radio station information and to listen to the live show on the internet, go to www.avemariaradio.net.
Janet Morana will guest host for Teresa Tomeo on Catholic Connection on Wednesday, June 9 and Thursday, June 10. The shows air from 8-10am ET. The 8-9am hour is heard locally to the Detroit area and can also be heard online. The 9-10am hour is heard nationwide on EWTN radio. For more information and to listen online go tohttp://avemariaradio.net/catholic-online-radio.php. To participate in the live show call 877-573-7825.
On June 9, at 9pm ET, Dr. Alveda King will be interviewed by Aleksander Danilov www.blogtalkradio.com/takebackAmerica (Podcast www.takingbackAmerica.podomatic.com) on the topic of Martin Luther King Jr., the black community and abortion.
Fr. Frank Pavone does a pro-life spot from 11:20am-11:30am ET on The Catholic Channel with Adam Hamway on Satellite Radio every second Thursday of the month (this is subject to change - the exact day will be posted on our website each month). The Catholic Channel is on SIRIUS 159 and XM 117.
Gospel of Life: Watch on Catholic Familyland (familyland.tv) - Sunday at 1am, Monday at 9am, Wednesday at 3:30am and Thursday at 11:30 pm. (All Times Eastern). You can also watch on the National Religious Broadcasters network (NRB), Wednesday at 6pm ET. The NRB Network is included in DIRECTV's base package, TOTAL CHOICE, channel 378
Playing on the NRB this week: Lord, Let Me See
Playing on Catholic FamilyLand this week: Inside and Abortion
Please tune in and spread the word! In fact, you can help us – and your whole parish -- by asking your pastor to place in the parish bulletin an announcement about our TV shows. Thanks in advance!
Priests for Life
PO Box 141172
Staten Island, NY 10314
Phone: 718-980-4400
Toll Free: 1-888-735-3448
Fax: 718-980-6515
mail@priestsforlife.org
www.priestsforlife.org
PO Box 141172
Staten Island, NY 10314
Phone: 718-980-4400
Toll Free: 1-888-735-3448
Fax: 718-980-6515
mail@priestsforlife.org
www.priestsforlife.org
