Mary Ziegler
Abortion in America: The Debate Over Roe v. Wade
Summary
Law professor Mary Ziegler discusses the current state of abortion rights in America, focusing on a leaked Supreme Court opinion by Justice Samuel Alito that could overturn Roe v. Wade. Ziegler estimated 24 to 26 states might criminalize most abortions in this scenario, emphasizing the historical context dating back to the 19th century when states began criminalizing abortion. The lecture offered insights into the historical and legal aspects of the abortion debate, addressing current challenges and potential changes in abortion rights.
Mary Ziegler
Mary Ziegler, a law professor at UC Davis, is one of the world’s leading authorities on the law and history of the US abortion debate. She is the author of four books on reproduction and the law, including Abortion and the Law in America: Roe v Wade to the Present (2020) and the award-winning After Roe: The Lost History of the Abortion Debate (2015). Her newest book is Dollars for Life: The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment (2022). Mary’s expertise is often featured on leading media outlets around the world, including CNN, MSNBC, PBS, NPR, the New York Times, the Economist, Bloomberg, and the Washington Post.
The Supreme Court doesn’t usually do things that are really out of step with popular opinion and when it does, there’s historically been lots of backlash. So I think why it’s happening is that the court doesn’t believe anything will happen to them if they do this. That’s really striking. If the Supreme Court really doesn’t pay any attention to moving away from popular opinion, that could have effects on lots of other issues too, not just this one.
At the moment there are no state laws that would prosecute women for getting abortions, including in other states or countries. That is not a settled issue though.
Most Americans have liked the idea of like looking at what the Constitution originally meant. The reason they liked that is they didn’t like the idea of partisan judges. But now the Supreme Court’s popularity is like worse than it’s ever been. And it’s because people are becoming aware of the fact that the Supreme Court can be partisan.