Abstract

This study begins by sketching the history of the movement for abortion reform from its inception in the 1930s until 1973 when the Supreme Court handed down its historic opinions. Next, it presents a substantive and historical analysis of the key legal concepts the Court employed in fashioning its Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions. followed by a detailed examination of the decisions themselves. ;The dissertation continues by investigating the popular and scholarly reaction to the Court's findings. However, the supporters and opponents of the decisions not only debated the implications of the opinions but also engaged in prolonged judicial and legislative struggles either to restrict the impact of the Court's actions or to prevent a legislative reversal of advantages won through litigation. Consequently, it then surveys the subsequent judicial and legislative developments and assesses the state of the question in current scholarship. ;Since the status of fetal life is of crucial importance in any serious discussion of abortion, this study next presents and critically evaluates representative theories about the nature and beginning of personhood. Then, from a Thomistic philosophical perspective, it analyzes the current biological data on fetal development and concludes that the fetus should be considered a person from the time that biological individuality is definitely established. ;Since abortion involves the deliberate termination of human life, the morality of taking of life in a conflict situation is the next topic of discussion. Instead of resorting to the traditional framework of the double effect, this work employs the principle of proportionality. It concludes that a termination of a pregnancy can serve the greater good of human life only in those rare instances where the life of the mother is actually endangered. ;Finally, this dissertation proposes a public policy rooted in the Declaration on Religious Freedom of the Second Vatican Council. Insisting that the proper forum for formulating a policy to regulate abortion is the legislatures and not the courts, a legal policy is proposed that includes a strong bias in favor of fetal life. However, in recognition of and respect for the religious freedom of others, a woman would be permitted to terminate her pregnancy in those circumstances where her needs are greatest