The
State Constitutional
Law Project
Sample Chapters:
Analysis of Illinois
Constitution
(PDF)
Analysis of Michigan Constitution
(PDF)
Analysis of California Constitution
(PDF)
We
are underwriting a systematic,
comprehensive and in-depth
study by our special
counsel Paul Linton
of the constitutional
law relating to abortion
rights in all fifty (50)
states. The reason? Simple
enough. If Roe
v. Wade were
overruled today and abortion
issues returned to the
states, even if every
state legislature promptly
enacted a statute outlawing
all abortions except
those needed to save
the mother's life, more
than half the abortions
performed in the U.S.
would still be legal!
That is because more
than half the abortions
performed annually in
the U.S. are performed
in states whose Supreme
Courts have held that
abortion is protected
as a constitutional right
under their state constitutions.
Legislatures in those
states would be powerless
to prohibit abortion,
and their right to regulate
abortion would also be
doubtful.
Pro-abortion
organizations have been working
hard in pursuit of a national
strategy to persuade state
courts to recognize abortion
rights under state constitutions.
Our state constitutional
law project has been designed
to combat that opposition
strategy. Linton's research,
almost half completed, will
not only describe the current
abortion jurisprudence in
each state, but it will also
examine relevant constitutional
provisions, canvass case
law interpreting those provisions,
and formulate principled
legal arguments against recognition
of abortion rights under
each state constitution.
This project will benefit
state legislators, pro-life
leaders and lobbyists, lawyers,
academics, and most important,
the state officials including
Governors and Attorneys General,
who are charged by law with
the duty to defend pro-life
legislation but often lack
the time, resources, experience,
and expertise to match wits
with pro-abortion forces
on an even playing field.
Our state constitutional
law project will help to
even out that playing field.
(See links to three studies
above.) |