Autonomy in Childbearing Is a Fundamental Tenth Amendent Right

By Mike Halliwell

As a strict constructionist who can find no reference to abortion in the Constitution, I will not try to read my own views on this subject into that revered document, because of the license to do likewise this would provide, to the activist judges who bring an agenda to the bench, to write their personal opinions into law on a broad range of topics.

My commitment to strict constructionism causes me to notice that abortion is never mentioned in the Constitution, and that decision-making power on this should be therefore reserved to the people individually, as the Tenth Amendment provides. The fundamental right here is not a right to abortion, it is the right to autonomy in childbearing. There are places in this world where pregnant women are carried off screaming into the night and aborted against their will. Women are subjected to forced sterilization when a central government decides they have had enough children (even when that is only one). Laws against abortion have never been enforceable, as a woman seeking one needs only to slip away for a few hours to secure one, or travel outside the jurisdiction where abortion is illegal. Coercion is so much easier to apply to prevent childbirth, since a pregnant woman is vulnerable for nine months and a fertile woman hoping to have a child someday is always vulnerable.

Pro-Life advocates need to realize that they need a three-pronged strategy: #1 At the Federal level to eliminate subsidies for abortion; to provide a safety net for babies after they are born so mothers can follow their maternal instincts without jeopardizing the rest of their family; and to prevent fathers seeking to avoid child support payments from fleeing across state lines to avoid their obligations. #2 At the State level to also eliminate subsidies for abortion (imposed by courts in all but one instance today); to require those seeking abortions in hardship situations to pay the cost initially or when they are able to later -- no one is too poor to repay abortion costs for very long, just look at the number of color television sets people have; and to educate young girls about the role that abstinence plays in saving sex for long-term pair bonding -- which is a part of the innate psychology of every female in a species whose young require nearly two decades to mature; and to use modern DNA technology to make sure that males "sowing their wild oats" pay for the full development costs of this crop. #3 At the individual level to make sure that those who come from homes where moral instruction is not being provided, learn how morality preserves the long-term interests of individuals and of society, and allow a robust role for faith-based initiatives in this sphere. Monogamy and longevity is a very attractive package since every male hopes to grow to maturity and have some knowledge and skills to pass on to his progeny, not just his genes -- we need to eliminate the ghastly carnage that makes so many young males doubt that they will live long enough to become men to control the "desperation sexuality" that arises in this situation.

Fundamentally, need needs to be paid to that "Man for All Seasons" Sir Thomas More, who proclaimed that he would provide the protection of the law to even the Devil, for his own sake. More declared: "This nation is planted thick with laws, Man's laws not God's. If we cut a path through these laws to get at the Devil, and these laws being flat, could we stand in the gale that will come when the Devil turns 'round on us?" Personal autonomy in the sphere of reproductive choice is a matter of jurisdiction, and it includes the right to make mistakes. It is the only way to prevent potentially much bigger mistakes by government when it falls into unfriendly hands.