The Constitution apparently protects Americans’ right to bear arms, freedom of speech and right to have an abortion, according to Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).
The non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives was a guest on PBS‘ ‘To the Contrary‘ this week, where the women discussed Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis’ filibuster of the 20-week abortion ban bill. Holmes Norton spoke out against the polling data that shows a majority of Texans support the proposed legislation.
“It’s very interesting for you to tell me, or to tell the world, that 62 percent of this or that are for or against somebody’s constitutional rights,” she told the other panelists.
She stressed that abortion was not subject to public opinion, since the matter was already decided with Roe v. Wade. Holmes Norton then stated again that the 1973 Supreme Court case “declared that the right to an abortion…is a constitutional right.”
But one doesn’t have to be a constitutional scholar to know that Holmes Norton is completely wrong.
The Congresswoman is correct in saying that the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade declared abortion a “fundamental right.” But that doesn’t mean an abortion is a constitutional right. There is no amendment that guarantees a woman’s access to an abortion, unlike the right to bear arms or the freedom of speech.
There is an amendment, however, that declares that powers — like abortion regulation — not given to the federal government should be decided by the states. That’s the Tenth Amendment, which reads:
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
So though Holmes Norton criticized the 62 percent of Texans who support the 20-week abortion ban, that 62 percent absolutely has the right to decide how abortions are regulated in the state.
