Abortion and American politics

Abstract

The complex interplay between interest groups the states the courts Congress and the president and executive branch in shaping US abortion policy during 1973-92 is illustrated without advocacy of one position over another. The abortion controversy is used as a case study of the fluidity of the US constitutional system and the way controversial decisions are subject to challenge evasion and overturning by other branches of government. Presented is a historical review of abortion rulings from the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision through the 1989 Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services--a turning point in abortion politics marking a retreat from Roe. Also considered are possible consequences of President Clintons election for future policy. By 1992 38 states had abortion-related bills pending in legislatures and the locus of the abortion controversy had moved to the state level. The Clinton Administration has rescinded Reagan-Bush policies that restricted abortion counseling by organizations receiving federal funds and has the potential to shift the ideological balance in federal courts as well as the Supreme Court. It can be predicted however that abortion politics will long continue to reflect the conflicts between reconciling tensions between rights and responsibilities private versus public morality and self-determination against majoritarianism and communitarianism.

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