Abstract

PIP: The brief presented by the Justice Department in support of the Attorney General of Missouri invoked a favorable image of European legislative responses to the practice of abortion in order to argue the appropriateness of locating legislative control at the state, rather than federal level. The foundations on which these arguments are based is fundamentally flawed. The brief omitted the fact that in all the countries that share a common culture with the US, and in fact the US as well, the trend has been a liberalization of abortion laws. A woman's access to abortion is better than in any other time in history. 5 issues are examined as part of the criticism of the Department's brief: national legislation in Western Europe must conform to the same minimum standards of respect for human rights and freedom; in order to protect women's reproductive health, many Western countries have liberalized their abortion laws and protected women's choices in a manner consistent with Roe v. Wade; restricting public facilitation of abortion is out of step with the practice of other Western Countries and endangers women's health; abortion laws in many western countries utilize frameworks comparable to the trimester-based approach of Roe v. Wade; and the decision in Roe v. Wade achieves necessary protection of woman's bodily integrity from the invasive implementation of mandatory governmental programs. Contrary to the assertion presented in the Department's brief, Western democracies do not entrust fundamental questions of reproductive freedom to the unfettered discretion of national legislatures. Quite to the contrary, the European Commission of Human Rights has found that legislative decisions regarding reproductive freedom fail to safeguard the liberty, health and welfare of women and violate international conventions, including the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.