Equality Arguments for Abortion RightsNeil S. SiegelReva B. Siegel

AbstRAct

Roe v. Wade grounds constitutional protections for women’s decision whether to end a pregnancy in the Due Process Clauses. But in the forty years since Roe, the U.S. Supreme Court has come to understand the abortion right as an equality right, as well as a liberty right. In this Essay, we describe some distinctive features of equality arguments for abortion rights. We then show how, over time, equality arguments have appeared in the opinions of the Court and of the justices. Finally, we explain why there may be independent political significance in grounding abortion rights in equality values.

AuthoRs

Neil S. Siegel is Professor of Law and Political Science, Co-Director, Program in Public Law, Duke Law School.

Reva B. Siegel is Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Professor of Law, Yale University.

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60 UCLA L. Rev. DisC. 160 (2013)

tAbLE of contEnts

Introduction.............................................................................................................162I. Equality Arguments for Abortion Rights ...............................................162II. Equality Arguments in Legal Doctrine ...................................................164

A. Equality Arguments for Abortion Rights and the Due Process Clauses ..164B. Equality Arguments for Abortion Rights and the Equal Protection Clause .......................................................................................165C. What About Geduldig? ..............................................................................167

III. The Political Authority of the Equal Protection Clause ..................168Conclusion ................................................................................................................170

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