Healthcare Reform Bill Abortion Controversy Challenges Roe V Wade Decision

Thirty-seven years after the historic Roe v Wade decision, here we are again with abortion the center of the controversy with a twist of irony. In 1973, Norma McCorvey (alias Jane Roe) alleged that the abortion law in Texas violated her constitutional rights and the rights of other women. The Supreme Court ruled in her favor striking down long standing laws in a majority of states banning abortion. At the heart of the abortion decision was the Ninth Amendment.

The Ninth Amendment is basically the peoples' right to privacy. The healthcare bill mandates everyone buy healthcare insurance. More on the privacy implications later. The first 8 amendments define federal government powers. Here is the Ninth Amendment language:

The Ninth Amendment states that "the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Before its decision in the 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court had interpreted this clause as reserving for the states any rights not specifically granted to the federal government by the Constitution. In the majority opinion for Griswold , Justice William O. Douglas had articulated another, more literal, view of the Ninth Amendment. He said that rights not explicitly granted to the government by the Constitution were retained by the people, and this included a right to privacy. On this basis, the Griswold decision invalidated all state laws banning contraceptive use among married couples. Source: Gale Virtual Reference Library

The healthcare reform bill has softer abortion language that is interpreted to allow federal funding for abortions. This infuriates pro-life politicians and their constituents. It appears that President Obama will issue an Executive Order to clarify the abortion language as a measure to get enough votes to pass the healthcare reform legislation. Why the Executive Order? Congress can not pass the healthcare bill without a resolution on abortion. What happened to Separation of Powers? To use a medical term, this healthcare bill should be DOA -- Dead On Arrival.

The irony? The very issue (abortion) that is at the heart of the controversial healthcare reform bill is a matter of personal privacy granted by the Ninth Amendment. The healthcare reform bill attacks personal privacy by mandating all citizens acquire healthcare and substantially increases the size of the IRS to police the effort! Norma, with her grandparents raising her 5 year old daughter at the young age of 21 did not want to carry her second pregnancy full term. The Supreme Court agreed and cited the Ninth Amendment. The healthcare reform bill requires all citizens to have healthcare insurance -- not a private matter.