Alabama Court Rekindles Debate Over Start of Life

Abortion opponents argue for the life of the unborn, while abortion advocates claim “bodily autonomy.” The Supreme Court, in its Roe v. Wade decision citing a case from 1965, declared a right to privacy and ruled that the unborn was not a “person” under the Constitution – at least before viability.

In his opinion for the majority, Justice Harry Blackmun stated that “those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus” of when life begins.