Supreme Court Justice Scalia Says U.S. Constitution 'Says Nothing About Abortion'

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 16 Apr 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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In response to a question about whether the U.S. Constitution guarantees fetuses the right to life, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Tuesday said the document "says nothing about abortion," the AP/Las Cruces Sun-News reports. Scalia spoke about abortion and other legal issues during a 10-minute question-and-answer session after a speech at the Albuquerque Convention Center in conjunction with a visit to the University of New Mexico School of Law, sponsored by the law school and the Federalist Society. During his remarks, the justice described himself as an "originalist" who interprets constitutional amendments to reflect their original meaning, in contrast to constitutional scholars who consider the document a "living Constitution" that can change in response to societal changes.

To expand upon his abortion position, Scalia discussed the 13th and 14th amendments, which abolished slavery and guaranteed citizenship rights. He said, "Do you think that 'person' in the 13th Amendment meant that you count pregnant women twice for purposes of deciding how many votes? Of course not. You're talking about walking-around persons." He added, "And I think the presumption is that the 14th Amendment talks about the same thing." According to Scalia, "If you're serious about constitutionalism, you can't read into [the Constitution] whatever you would like." He said, "The fact is, it says nothing about abortion either way, and that's my position."

Scalia also said he disagrees with people who believe the Constitution can be reinterpreted to reflect changes in society, adding, "If you want change, you don't need a constitution. What you need is a legislature and a ballot box." According to Scalia, a "living Constitution" would create a Supreme Court that reflects the will of society. However, the "problem is the Supreme Court is not supposed to reflect the will of the people in those areas protected by the Bill of Rights," he said. Scalia added that a constitution "which means whatever the people, at a particular time, want it to mean is a constitution that is worthless" (Clark, AP/Las Cruces Sun-News, 4/15).

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