Constitutional Rights
Among the U.S. Constitution's amendments, three are particularly relevant to the issue of abortion and reproductive rights:
The First Amendment guarantees religious liberty, including freedom of speech and the right to practice (or not practice) any religion. This protects individuals from being compelled to follow religious ordinances that conflict with their personal conscience. Regarding reproductive rights, this means no laws can be made based on religion—only secular reasoning—though everyone has the right to discuss how such laws align or do not align with their spirituality, as well as how to best honor their spirituality within respect of the laws and the constitution.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
The Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery and involuntary servitude, ensuring that no person can be owned or forced into labor by another person, government, or entity. The actual work of pregnancy often goes understated. Not only does pregnancy have monetary value, as documented in surrogacy payments, but also, its labor can be measured metabolically. Pregnancy requires substantial daily metabolic energy across all three trimesters, amounting to hundreds of millions of joules over the course of gestation. In practical terms, sustaining a pregnancy demands a level of sustained physical effort comparable to extreme endurance activity—akin to running more than 700 miles over a period of 40 weeks. Recognizing pregnancy as labor does not, by itself, resolve the constitutional status of abortion, but it does resolve the status of forced pregnancy as unconstitutional (pretending otherwise is denying reality and would logically lead to work like farming as not being counted as labor). Courts and scholars continue to debate how the Thirteenth Amendment applies in this context. However, the amendment highlights an important principle: compelling a person to undergo significant bodily labor raises serious constitutional and ethical questions. These questions are central to discussions of reproductive rights and are explored further below.
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
The Fourteenth Amendment protects the rights to life, liberty, and property. The right to life is protection from unlawful killing. The right to liberty guarantees personal freedom and self-determination, within the boundary of behavior that respects the rights of others. And the right to property safeguards ownership of land, tangible assets, and intellectual assets.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
A recurring theme in the abortion debate is a perceived conflict between the right to life and the right to liberty, with each "side" claiming that one right outweighs the other. However, the Constitution never declares that the right to life or the right to liberty is superior to the other. In fact, the Ninth Amendment, explicitly states that no right should be denied or disparaged to favor another. To understand the spirit of these rights, we can turn the pages of history to the revolutionary era.
Source: Library of Congress 9LC-DIG-pga-08961
In 1775, as tensions between the American colonies and Great Britain rose to a boiling point, Delegate Patrick Henry famously addressed the Virginia Assembly, advocating for revolution. He concluded his speech with the impassioned words:
"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
The cry "Liberty of Death!" became a rallying call for the American Revolution. "Liberty or Death!" inspired thousands of people to bravely risk and sacrifice their lives to secure liberty for all. The American spirit values both life and liberty, but without our passion for liberty, the United States of America would not exist.
There are dark stains in our history where life and liberty have been unduly denied, and we must continue to rectify those errors while preventing future tragedy.
These constitutional principles—protecting conscience, freedom from compelled labor, and life, liberty, and property—provide shared ground. Before we can apply them to contemporary questions of reproductive rights, we must first address a fundamental question: when does a person's life begin?
Before that point, contraception and elective abortion must be permissible without undue burden to uphold the rights to liberty, self-determination, and equal protection under the law. After that point—once an unborn child exists—the focus shifts to finding ways to respect both the rights of the child and the rights of the woman. Thus in practice, after an unborn child exists, abortion is restricted to rare and exceptional cases, and early delivery is the primary recourse when relief from pregnancy is necessary.
Approached this way, the balance between life and liberty is handled with deliberate care, aiming to secure liberty and justice for all.
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Preamble from the Constitution of the United States of America