A Fetal Right to Life?: Abortion and the Constitution Part 2

We the People

National Constitution Center

News, News Commentary, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 30 May 2019

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In part two of our discussion on abortion and the Constitution – David French of National Review and reproductive rights historian Mary Ziegler of Florida State College of Law join host Jeffrey Rosen. French and Ziegler break down the recent Supreme Court decision in Box v. Planned Parenthood, and the related legal debates surrounding “fetal dignity” and fetal rights. Exploring Justice Thomas’ concurrence in Box – French explains why he thinks Thomas is once again “throwing down the gauntlet” on the constitutional underpinnings of abortion rights. Next, these experts explore the history and resurgence of the “fetal personhood” movement, which asserts that fetuses have certain constitutional rights, including the right to life. French and Ziegler trace the movement’s history and analyze the strategies of states like Alabama and Georgia that have passed new laws attempting to protect the personhood of the fetus. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and welcome
0:07.4	to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:11.0	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress to increase
0:16.5	awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.
0:22.0	And welcome we the people friends to our discussion of the Constitution
0:26.1	and abortion part two.
0:28.4	Last week we had a very rich and important discussion about the constitutional arguments for and against
0:36.3	Roe v. Wade and Casey versus Planned Parenthood and whether they should or shouldn't be
0:40.2	overturned.
0:41.5	The homework was to write to me to tell me what you thought of the constitutional
0:44.7	merits of the decision and a shout out to Juan Kim who wrote a really thoughtful essay about the equal protection arguments and is a rising law student.
0:57.2	Thank you, John, for taking the time to write in.
1:00.0	Today I'm really excited to have a discussion about one of the most important developments
1:06.1	in the debate about abortion and the Constitution and that is the attempts by some states
1:12.2	to recognize fetal personhood.
1:15.0	And joining us to illuminate this debate and explored history are two of America's leading
1:20.0	commentators on the question.
1:21.4	I'm so excited to have the chance to learn from both of them.
1:25.2	David French is senior writer for National Review, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute
1:30.3	and a constitutional attorney.
1:33.7	He was previously president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a lecturer
1:37.8	at Cornell Law School, a senior counsel for the Alliance defending freedom and a returning champion on We the People.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from National Constitution Center, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of National Constitution Center and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.