Roe v. 'W': A Primer

The death knell of Roe, however, was sounded in the dissenting opinion. Four justices, Rehnquist, White, Scalia and Thomas, used the weakness of Roe's holdings as the basis for challenging the basic principle that the right to an abortion is part of a woman's fundamental right to privacy. They argued that the very fact that Roe's framework has produced confusing judicial opinions and that Casey now enables broad restrictions on abortion, brings into question the nature of this right being fundamental to a scheme of ordered liberty. They boldface declared that Roe was incorrectly decided. The Bush administration may very well create the opportunity for the Court to again review Roe v. Wade. Justice Blackmun's weak grounding of reproductive decisions as a fundamental right, and the chaotic sliding scale that his medical framework evoked may very well spell the end of this most personal, most private and indeed, most fundamental of rights.