 Do You Know Doe
We know Roe. Almost everyone has heard of Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion case of 1973. Jane Roe is the fictitious name of the person whose legal challenge to the abortion law of Texas led the Supreme Court to overturn the abortion laws in all 50 states and to create the so-called “right” to an abortion. But....
Who’s Doe?
Few people realize that Roe v. Wade has a “twin”: Doe v. Bolton. Mary Doe is the fictitious name of the person whose case against the abortion law in Georgia was decided on the same day as Roe v. Wade.
In fact, these two cases were considered companion cases by the Supreme Court. And unless you know Doe v. Bolton you can’t really understand the radical nature of Roe v. Wade.
If you don’t know Doe, you can’t know Roe! So, What did Doe do?
Doe provided a loophole. A big one. While Roe may have made abortion legal, it still allowed the states to restrict abortion during the last three months, unless the life or health of the mother was at stake. So in Doe the Court defined “health” as encompassing “all factors – physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age – relevant to the well-being of the patient.”
Doe not only defines the exception to restrictions on late-term abortions, it swallows them.
What does Doe mean?
Doe means legalized abortion on demand, even during the last weeks of a pregnancy.
Abortion advocates like to claim that there is no such thing as abortion on demand in the United States. They point out that, except for when a woman’s life or health is endangered, Roe allows for restrictions on third-trimester abortions. But that’s a very misleading claim, because it ignores Doe v. Bolton.
By defining health broadly, Doe requires that abortion be available for any reason and at any time during a pregnancy.
In June of 1983, ten years after the Doe v. Bolton decision, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee issued a report showing the real outcome of the Roe and Doe decisions--unrestricted abortion on demand:
“The Senate Judiciary Committee observes that no significant legal barrier of any kind whatsoever exists today in the United States for a woman to obtain an abortion during any stage of her pregnancy.”
So, What Can I Do?
By understanding the Supreme Court’s Doe decision, you can better understand the ramifications of Roe v. Wade. If you support life and would like to learn more about how the decisions of Doe and Roe affect the lives of unborn children in the United States, click here (live link to “YouMakeanImpact” page) and grab some ideas on how you can get involved. |
