The landmark Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) found that a woman’s right to an abortion was not mandated by the Constitution. Justice Samuel Alito* wrote the decision for the conservative majority. He concluded that it was up to the state legislatures to determine whether or not abortion would be permissible. They in turn were elected by voters, a majority of whom were women.
In Dobbs the court noted that abortion had been a crime in common law and throughout the history of the United States. This was done to show that it was not rooted in our customs and traditions and at the time of adoption of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment in 1868. Three quarters of the states had then made abortion a crime at any stage of a pregnancy.
Why is the due process clause important? The 5th Amendment stated that neither life nor liberty shall be taken away without due process of law. It applied only to the actions of the federal government. The 14th Amendment included those same strictures to state actions.
Dobbs struck down two noteworthy cases—Roe v. Wade (1973) and Casey v. Planned Parenthood (1992). Roe was based on a woman’s right of privacy and it created a balancing test between that right and the state’s interest in preserving life. The right of privacy was said to include the right of a woman to control her own bodily functions. The state’s interest in life centered around the three trimesters of pregnancy and fetal development.** Justice Harry Blackmun*** wrote the decision.
Casey stated a person retains the right to have an abortion, but the state’s compelling interest in preserving the life of the unborn child means that it can ban the abortion of a viable fetus under any circumstances unless the health of the mother is at risk. (Justia: US Supreme Court, https://supreme.justia.com) It applied an undue burden test.
Alito found the undue burden test to be imprecise and vague. When is a burden to burdensome? He believes in following laws as written, i.e., their texts. Regarding Roe v. Wade, no right to privacy is explicitly stated in the Constitution. That right is derived from the case of Griswold v. Connecticut. Blackmun’s use of trimesters was something he devised.
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* Samuel Alito is an Aries with the Moon in Virgo and Capricorn, the sign of tradition, on the Ascendant. His Mercury in Aries is opposed to Neptune and trine Pluto. Saturn is conjoined with the Moon in the 8th House of sex, regeneration, life, and death. Pluto is in its home there. With that conjunction and placement, it would seem almost inevitable that Alito would want to limit abortion. Saturn, the planet of restriction, is bound to the Moon denoting the subconscious. The native is dutiful, but sparse praise is given to others.
**At the end of the first trimester (13 weeks), the fetus is the size of a pea pod. The baby’s brain impulses have not begun to fire. That occurs in week 14. The baby is fully formed. (Baby Center: Fetal Development Week by Week, www.babycenter.com) In Blackmun’s test the woman’s right to regulate her own body trumped the state’s interest in preserving life during the first trimester. Meaningful life (viability) was said to occur at about 24 weeks of pregnancy. (Britannica: Roe v. Wade: Law Case) It was at this point that Roe opined the state’s interest in life became paramount.
During the 17th week of pregnancy in the second trimester, the baby’s skeleton of soft cartilage begins to harden to bone. The baby is the size of a turnip. At 19 weeks smell, touch, taste, vision and hearing begin developing. The 27th week is the last week of the second trimester. At that time the baby sleeps and wakes on a regular schedule. The brain is very active. The lungs are not fully developed. They can perform outside the womb with help. (Baby Center)
***Associate Justice Harry Blackmun was born on November 12, 1908. A Scorpio, a sign associated with sex, his Moon was in home and family loving Cancer together with Neptune. That conjunction will make the native kind. Note also Neptune serves to inflate. Compare that to the restricting action of Saturn. Uranus and Neptune are both strong by aspect. Jupiter is trine Uranus. The time of birth is not known.
Author’s notes: Safe haven laws have made it possible for new unborn children and those up to the age of one to be dropped off at various locations with no questions asked and no threat of prosecution. (WikiHow: How to Drop off an Unwanted Baby)
My concern is the foster care system. I had a teacher tell me certain parents had adopted a child only for the money. I knew another man who had children of his own and adopted still others. He and his wife took their own children with them to a restaurant but left the adopted children at home.
When I was a School Psychologist, social workers would place foster kids in the district without regard as to whether they were a good fit. A black teenager was placed at the high school in our rural district. Not only was he exceedingly tall, he was the only African American in the district. Another child had had numerous placements. Children need the consistency of a loving home with caring parents.
Foster children oft times are not good students. Social workers immediately ask for special education testing. If the children are behavior problems, they want an ED (emotional disturbance) placement. That label carries a stigma. Children in a SDC (Special Day Class) are not eligible to join the military. The SDC curriculum is lower than regular education.
Brian Hill, blog writer
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