Abuse of discretion
Subtitle: the inside story of Roe v. Wade
By: Clarke D. Forsythe
Edition: First American edition.
Publisher: Encounter Books
Published: 2013
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 477
ISBN-13: 9781594036927; 9781594036934
Subjects: Abortion; Law and legislation; United States; Political questions and judicial power; Trials (Abortion); Trials, litigation
Description: Based on 20 years of research, including an examination of the papers of eight of the nine Justices who voted in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, this is a critical review of the deliberations that went into the Supreme Court's abortion decisions and how the mistakes made by the Justices in 1971-1973 have led to the turmoil we see today in legislation, politics, and public health. The first half of the book looks at the mistakes made by the Justices; the second half critically examines the unintended consequences of the abortion decisions in law, politics, and women's health. Why do the abortion decisions remain so controversial after almost 40 years, despite more than 50 million abortions, numerous presidential elections, and a complete turnover in the Justices? Why did such a sweeping decision, producing such prolonged political turmoil, come from the Supreme Court in 1973? The controversy has hardly subsided, and the reasons why are to be found in the Justices' deliberations in 1971-1972 that resulted in their unprecedented decision.--From publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 447-468) and index.
Table of contents: title: The road to Roe : inside the Supreme Court; title: The road to Roe : taking abortion into the courts; title: The red flags the justices ignored : the embarrassing oral arguments in the abortion cases; title: The abrupt expansion to viability (and beyond); title: The medical myth that drove the outcome in Roe (and its continuing impact); title: The American experience the justices overlooked; title: The public health vacuum the justices created; title: Detrimental reliance : the international data on the risks to women; title: The costs of schizophrenia; title: The public is not "polarized" over abortion : what most Americans can agree on; title: Has Roe solved the problems it was supposed to solve for women?; title: What will happen on the day after Roe?