Slavery, Abortion, and the Politics of Constitutional Meaning

Justin Buckley Dyer provides the first book-length scholarly treatment of the parallels between slavery and abortion in American constitutional development.

Justin Buckley Dyer (Author)

9781107680746, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 June 2013

202 pages
21.6 x 13.9 x 1.4 cm, 0.29 kg

'As Justin Buckley Dyer shows in Slavery, Abortion, and the Politics of Constitutional Meaning, disturbing parallels exist between the debate over slavery before the Civil War and the debate over abortion now … Dyer's assertion of the moral foundation of America may be difficult to enact, but that does not make it false.' Andrew Evans, The Washington Free Beacon

For the past forty years, prominent pro-life activists, judges and politicians have invoked the history and legacy of American slavery to elucidate aspects of contemporary abortion politics. As is often the case, many of these popular analogies have been imprecise, underdeveloped and historically simplistic. In Slavery, Abortion, and the Politics of Constitutional Meaning, Justin Buckley Dyer provides the first book-length scholarly treatment of the parallels between slavery and abortion in American constitutional development. In this fascinating and wide-ranging study, Dyer demonstrates that slavery and abortion really are historically, philosophically and legally intertwined in America. The nexus, however, is subtler and more nuanced than is often suggested, and the parallels involve deep principles of constitutionalism.

1. The conscience of a nation
2. Substance, procedure, and Fourteenth Amendment rights
3. Dred Scott, Lochner, and the new abortion liberty
4. Constitutional disharmony after Roe
5. The politics of abortion history
6. Private morality, public reasons
7. Personhood and the ethics of life.

Subject Areas: Pressure groups & lobbying [JPWD], Political activism [JPW], Ethical issues: abortion & birth control [JFMA], Slavery & abolition of slavery [HBTS]