Abortion History Myths: The Sequel.

In his soon to be published book, Dispelling the Myths of Abortion History, Villanova Law School Professor Joseph W. Dellapenna systematically exposes the legions of lieslegal, historical, social, and otherwiseon which Roe v. Wade rests.

A review in the January 2006 NRL News touched upon the major themes of his book. Because these points bear repeating often (it may take us years to supplant "conventional wisdom" with the truth), here are Dellapenna's main theses.

1. Contrary to Justice Harry Blackmun's ersatz tutorial on the history of abortion in Roe, abortion was not commonly practiced throughout millennia. Not the least of the reasons was because abortion methods used before about 1900 fell into two, sometimes overlapping, categories: 1) ineffective and 2) injurious or fatal to the mother.

2. Also contrary to Blackmun's version of history, abortion was not a liberty women were free to enjoy; abortion was in fact a crime under English common law and in ecclesiastical courts in England from at least the 14th century.

3. Stringent state laws enacted in the 19th century to codify the common-law crime of abortion were aimed at protecting the lives of unborn children at even the earliest stage of pregnancy. Blackmun, however, would have us believe these laws were enacted to protect women's lives and health. This allowed him to argue the laws no longer served any purposeabortion supposedly being "safe" for women in 1973and the laws could, therefore, be overturned.

Naturally, in a book of 1,300 pages, Dellapenna debunks hundreds of fascinating myths and misconceptions which have been paraded around the public square as Revealed Truth for far too long. Allow me to address a few more myths he takes pains to demolish.

Myth: Roe v. Wade was the inevitable outcome of an ongoing abortion liberalization process that was moving forward at the state level. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg still propounds this viewpoint. She has written in a law review article: "The political process was moving in the early 1970s, not swiftly enough for advocates of quick, complete change, but majoritarian institutions were listening and acting."